Construction is underway on Payne Avenue Walk, a new community of single-family homes in an area long plagued with crime, violence, blight and other conditions that erode public safety and quality living.
The development is creating a neighborhood where a cluster of mostly vacant apartments had become a haven for drugs, violence and blight.
The progress is happening thanks to $2.6 million in federal funds as well as technical assistance from LISC Jacksonville and management by The Northwest Jacksonville Community Development Corp. The City of Jacksonville Neighborhoods Department and Denise Lee were instrumental in helping to secure these funds.
Located near the Rails to Trails pathway, Payne Avenue Walk represents LISC Jacksonville’s commitment to building and strengthening programs and investing in neighborhoods that promote quality living for residents throughout Jacksonville.
Payne Avenue Walk consists of 12 single-family homes. These three to four-bedroom homes will have a selling price of between $115,000 and $125,000 to households earning at 80 percent of the area median income. Only $500 down and a preapproval letter are the first steps for residents who want to become homeowners.
The homes are just a couple of blocks from Stanton College Preparatory School, one of the best high schools in the nation.
They’re also along the S-Line Urban Greenway, a walkable rail-trail that runs through neighborhoods like Durkeeville, Springfield and much of the urban core.
Despite those positives, the Payne Avenue apartments sat for years just festering, bringing unwanted activity to the area, said neighborhood leader Eunice Rogers. “Oh, they were horrible,” she said, referring to rampant drug-use mixed with some break-ins.
The project is a visible reminder of LISC’s and the City’s push to combat blight in distressed neighborhoods.
Northwest Jacksonville Community Development Corp. Executive Director Paul Tutwiler said that by eliminating the blight, crime is being reduced. After that, businesses should follow. The Payne Avenue project is a bookend to the work the neighborhood corporation, with help from LISC Jacksonville, is pursuing called the “Miracle Mile.”
Bit by bit, Tutwiler said projects like the new Payne Avenue Walk homes help further restore hope and pride to a community.