A Brentwood property that stirred neighborhood opposition over plans to turn it into a drive-thru liquor store will be repurposed as a small business support center, Mayor Donna Deegan said March 28.
The property, at 865 Golfair Blvd. across from the KIPP Voice Academy K-7 school, drew months of backlash in 2023 from neighbors who contended that it was an inappropriate location for a liquor store and that it was not needed in the area.
In November 2023, the Jacksonville City Council voted to purchase the property for $1.8 million with plans to repurpose it as a community or resource center to serve the neighborhood.
The property is a 0.38-acre lot with a 2,745-square-foot concrete building. In 2020, the Planning Commission approved a zoning exception for the site to allow for the sale of alcohol within 500 feet of a school. That vote came despite a recommendation for denial by the city Planning Department staff.
The owner paid $150,000 for the property in 2019.
Amid the neighborhood protests, Council received a third-party appraisal of the property from Moody Williams Appraisal Group, which valued it at $1.8 million. That appraisal included a projected estimate of the profits that would be generated through commercial use of the building.
During a JAXUSA Partnership Luncheon appearance, Deegan said the city would use the property as a resource center focusing on workforce development and entrepreneurship. She said the city hopes to have the site open by early fall.
Phil Perry, the mayor’s chief communications officer, said further details of the center will be released later.