Jacksonville City Council looks to approve $1.8 million purchase of Brentwood liquor store

A mistake made three years ago could now cost the city upwards of $1.8 million – a price tag City Council looks likely to begrudgingly approve.

For months, council and the administration have sought a solution for Brentwood community members protesting the opening of a drive-thru liquor store across the street from KIPP Voice Academy grade school.

The city’s planning commission approved a zoning exception in 2020 for the store, allowing it to sell alcohol within 500 feet of the soon-to-open school, despite community concerns against it. Now, the $1.8 million advised by a third-party appraiser will go toward purchasing the property from an owner who paid $150,000 for it in 2019.

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Council members called the deal a “bad investment” and an “almost no win situation” in committee meetings but agreed it was best for the area. Lydia Bell, president of the group leading the protests, said if the city had done right by the community originally, there “wouldn't be a price tag at all.”

“Our lives are worth more than $1.8 million, so if it’s $1.8 million they have to pay, it’s all right with me,” Bell told the Times-Union.

Months of debate have led to the potential deal with the liquor store owner, but the conversation has also spotlighted the importance of neighborhood involvement and fair representation. Still, some worry the price sets a bad precedent for deals with property owners moving forward.

Why would the city pay $1.8 million?

Mayor Donna Deegan’s office proposed the purchase price through legislation after it commissioned an appraisal from Moody Williams Appraisal Group. J. Mark Williams performed an appraisal of the same property for the city in 2020 when the soon-to-be neighboring medical examiner’s office considered purchasing it, Renee Hunter, of the city’s real estate division, told the Times-Union.

The company’s new appraisal placed the property’s value at $1,810,000 – a far cry from the Duval County Property Appraiser’s listed value.

The county’s appraiser last evaluated the property Jan. 16, 2023, prior to the now completed renovations of the building, a member of the appraiser’s commercial division told the Times-Union. The appraiser’s office had not reviewed a copy of the third-party appraisal and would not comment on its findings.

The office’s current value of the property – which deducts 15% from the true value in order to account for fees – is $135,000. The office would evaluate its value again around the first of the new year.

The property, a .38 acre lot with a 2,745 sq. ft. concrete building, previously housed a gas station, followed by a beauty supply store. According to the third-party appraisal, the current owner completely renovated the structure and removed all but three walls.

The new appraisal breaks down the price into three primary costs: the cost of the land, construction and a projected “entrepreneurial profit.”

The land would likely now be worth around $215,000 when compared to similarly constructed buildings throughout the city, the appraisal said.

Before construction started, building permits for work on the property outlined around $853,500 of anticipated costs. The itemized list of work, now finished, provided to the city put costs at $1.149 million. Hunter said the appraiser found the number “reasonable” because anticipated costs listed on permits do not include labor or fees from engineers, attorneys or contractors.

The highest construction costs listed included demolition, debris removal, reroofing the building and installing plumbing.

The appraiser then anticipated 30-33% of construction costs would equal the return on investment a business owner would expect to earn on top of the direct and indirect costs of opening the business.

The parks department told City Council that building a similar structure for a community center in the area would cost about the same amount as the purchase cost for the liquor store.

What did City Council members say about the price?

Council members expressed confusion about the price in committee meetings, doubting it would cost so much to renovate such a small structure.

“I just want to make sure that people understand that this is a bad [return on investment] in general” Raul Arias said during Tuesday’s finance committee. He is currently working to build a restaurant bigger than the liquor store, and the construction costs did not compare. “But, we need to rectify an issue for the community.”

The city has paid more than the county's appraised values in the past. It purchased a residential lot in San Marco earlier this year for a flood control project, paying $900,000 even though it appraised at $480,000. Like in the Brentwood case, city staff advised council that trying to obtain the property through eminent domain could result in a long court battle and even higher costs.

Tyrona Clark-Murray, one of the council members who wanted to buy the liquor store property in June, has been the only council member to vote against the purchase. She wholly supported removing the store from the community, but she said the purchase price sent the wrong message.

“That is shameful, and I think it’s setting a dangerous precedent,” Clark-Murray said in the Monday neighborhoods committee meeting. “It just speaks to how important, when we approve members to be a part of any commission, what damage can be done if they are not diligent about their job and if they don’t understand the communities that they serve.”

How did the city get here?

The controversy began in 2020 after the store's owner applied for a zoning exception to allow for the sale of alcohol within 500 feet of a school. Planning Department staff and the local Citizen Planning Advisory Committee urged the Planning Commission to deny the request, but the 9-person commission approved it anyway.

The community found out about the exception earlier this year when the owner began renovating the building. Bell and the Metro Gardens Neighborhood Association worried for the safety of students in such proximity to the drive-thru.

Following the uproar, the city explored ways to buy the property from an “unwilling seller.” In May, former City Council member Al Ferraro filed a bill to use the $500,000 allocated in the budget for action on the city’s controversial Confederate monument to buy the property.

Clark-Murray wanted to use the bones of his bill to buy the store, but instead, use the city’s general fund for the purchase and leave the monument fund intact. Council ultimately pulled the bill in order to get more information and construct a proposal.

In the meantime, council wanted to ensure the situation would not happen again, passing a bill in June to require all zoning changes involving liquor permits to come before council, instead of just through the planning commission.

What happens next?

The full council is set to vote Tuesday on the bill allocating the funds for purchase. It will need 13 votes to pass.

The bill allows for the money to be spent, so the administration will still have to come to an agreement with the liquor store owner for a final sale.

The building will then be used as a community center or public building according to the bill. The city’s parks department will have the deciding power.

The department would not expand the building – and thereby add to the city’s cost – but the small size of the building means it cannot likely be used as a “traditional” community center, Daryl Joseph, director of the department, told council. Instead, it could be used to host job trainings, hold events or be used as some type of food source for the area.

Joseph said the department would meet with the community to determine the best use, and Bell, the neighborhood association president, said she will push for it to become a tutoring center for nearby students.

She would not support the use of a “public building,” especially if it related to the county’s close-by upcoming medical examiner’s office, which the Metro Gardens Neighborhood Association also vehemently opposes.

“We're totally opposed to that because that's another slap in the face,” Bell said. “How would you feel getting out there in the hot sun protesting against a building, and then when they decide to purchase the building, they give it to something else we feel that shouldn't be in the community?”

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville City Council looks to buy Brentwood liquor store by KIPP