HUD secretary calls Hilltop Village a 'success story' following turnaround at Jacksonville apartments
Local, state and federal officials convened in Jacksonville on Monday to tour several federally supported housing complexes and tout positive changes made at Hilltop Village apartments, a complex that has been rife with problems for years.
Leaders, including U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge, U.S. Rep. Al Lawson and Jacksonville City Councilwoman Ju’Coby Pittman, went to Sulzbacher Village and Hilltop and spoke with residents in tours that were closed to the media.
During a news conference after the tours at St. Clair Evans Academy, Fudge said Hilltop has had a new management company for the last five months and work has continued on improving the complex and ridding it of a rodent infestation. Several residents of Hilltop also spoke and agreed that living conditions at the apartment complex have improved.
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Fudge called Hilltop in particular a "success story."
"Five months ago this place was a disaster. But our team has been here on a regular basis. We have been sending in our inspectors, resources are coming in and you see the change," Fudge said. "We want to do that every place."
The rodent infestation at Hilltop became public in April 2021 when WJXT TV-4 aired an investigation with video of the mice in several apartments and complaints showing the issue had been going on for at least two years.
Hilltop Village, which contains 200 units at 1646 W. 45th St., is privately owned. It gets federal money through a Section 8 rental assistance contract so it can provide housing at rates that low-income residents can afford.
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Pittman said there are only two active violations the ownership and property managers are working on fixing, down from over 200 earlier in the year.
In 2021 alone, Jacksonville’s Municipal Code Compliance Division issued more than 350 citations during inspections at Hilltop, citing rampant rodent and roach infestations in hundreds of apartments, damaged interiors, broken appliances and clogged drains, according to documents reviewed by The Florida Times-Union.
When the first investigation into Hilltop aired, the property had not been inspected by HUD's Real Estate Inspection Center since 2015. Fudge said it has already been inspected by the center two times in 2022 with another planned for August.
"The residents were empowered and that's how the secretary got here along with her staff," Pittman said.
Katherine Lewin is the enterprise reporter at the Times-Union covering criminal and social justice issues in Northeast Florida. Email her at klewin@jacksonville.com or follow on Twitter @KatherineMLewin. Contact her for her Signal number to share anonymous tips and documents. Support local journalism!
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge visits Jacksonville apartments, homeless
