Dozens of potholes pockmark the Norwood Plaza parking lot. | Dan Scanlan, Jacksonville Today
Published on August 8, 2024 at 10:49 am
Find everything you need to make informed decisions this election season, plus so much more. Sign up for the Jacksonville Today newsletter.
When Tropical Storm Debby dumped inches of rain on the Jacksonville area Monday, it seems like a lot of it leaked into Antione Gary’s Elevations Lounge in the Norwood Plaza.
It was not the first time that rainwater leaked through his club’s roof. He showed puddles inside the club Wednesday and videos of rain pouring through the ceiling in the past as well as water pooling on the roof of the Brentwood neighborhood shopping center.
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
For Gary, repeated attempts to get the center’s owner and manager to repair the roof and fill huge parking lot potholes have met with silence. The nightclub has spent thousands of dollars to fix damage to the floor and ceiling from dripping water, he said. Workers even get on the roof to shove pooling water off it.
“We were made promises that we would get the roof replaced. We still have standing water on the roof, and it just pours into the building, even after a storm or before a storm. It just tears it down,” Gary said. “It is a major safety hazard for all personnel, employee-wise, and also our consumers who want to frequent the business. We made several attempts to ourselves pave the parking lot. It was told to us that the parking lot was going to get fixed. We are back to the same potholes.”
After a year of complaints from many of the shop and restaurant owners in the center — and no response from the center’s owners — City Council Member Ju’Coby Pittman joined tenants Wednesday to challenge the owners to step up and fix the problems. She called this a “preventable issue” that the landlord has the responsibility to fix. She said she has stumbled into those potholes herself while shopping there.
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
“When customers come to a place where they know and experience that they can’t be safe, it deters them from coming and shopping and supporting the small businesses. It hurts the business.,” Pittman said. “The tenants are asking for action from the landlord to install a new roof, to stop the major leaks in their businesses and a new parking lot.”
Built in 1969, the center at 5615 Norwood Ave. is now owned by Black Horse Commercial LLC, which bought it in early 2022 for $7.78 million. The 198,000-square-foot center occupies 14 acres at Norwood Avenue and West 44th Street, with the Norwood Plaza Flea Market and more than a dozen other storefronts. Company officials could not be reached for comment.
The tenants say they have always paid their rent on time and they now want someone to force the property owner to deal with the problems.
“It is constantly deteriorating. The roof is constantly deteriorating. We reach out, and they tell us if you pay your rent, we will do it. We pay our rent on time,” Gary said. “We are reaching out; we are seeking help; we are trying to get a better understanding and have been met with negative response.”
Pittman said she has shared the issues with the city’s code enforcement office, which has levied repeated fines for the condition of the parking lot and roof.
“Unfortunately, the landlord has not complied and has not cured the issues at this point,” Pittman said. “There have been many broken promises, and that must end.”
Pittman and the tenants also want lighting restored in the center’s parking lot.
