Jacksonville Housing Partnership (JHP)
In 2021, the City of Jacksonville announced the launch of the Jacksonville Housing Partnership to identify, align and coordinate affordable housing strategies. Moderated by the Florida Housing Coalition, the City of Jacksonville hosted a Jacksonville Housing Partnership Strategy Summit in December 2022 with participants including community leaders in the following fields: Banks, Credit Unions, Housing Associations, Private and Nonprofit businesses, Philanthropy, City of Jacksonville, COJ Independent Authorities, Education, and Community Associations.
Click here to view the 2022 Jacksonville Housing Partnership Strategy Summit Report prepared by the Florida Housing Coalition (FHC). This report is a robust packet of data, information and ideas from different stakeholders. In addition to the summit summary provided by the FHC, this report also includes links to the summit presentations.
Background:
In 2016, Mayor Curry reestablished the City of Jacksonville Neighborhoods Department to ensure the coordination of resources and the focus on neighborhood stability, development, and family wealth creation. The City of Jacksonville’s Consolidated Plan was updated in 2018 by the Neighborhood’s Department and the plan identified three priority areas: neighborhood revitalization, housing development for homeownership, and affordable housing preservation and development.
In 2017, Mayor Curry launched the Downtown Homelessness Taskforce to increase the alignment of the organizations serving people experiencing homelessness and to increase access and entry points into the system of care. Jacksonville is recognized as a model city for large cities across the country and has received national recognition for its strategic COVID-19 homelessness response. Through collaborative efforts, Jacksonville has seen a significant decline in chronic, veteran and family homelessness, and the annual point-in-time count led by Changing Homelessness continues to report a reduction in overall homelessness. 
In 2019, the City of Jacksonville hosted an Affordable Housing Strategy workshop with multiple private, non-profit affordable housing developers, advocates, and the Florida Housing Coalition to identify solutions to address the shortage of affordable housing. An outcome of the workshop was the consensus that Jacksonville needed a Community Land Trust to develop and preserve affordable housing for the citizens of Jacksonville. Click here to view the 2019 Strategic Planning Workshop Report.
In 2021, the Mayor’s Downtown Homelessness Taskforce officially sunset to launch the Jacksonville Housing Partnership (JHP) for the purpose of focusing on affordable housing strategies and aligning sector investments around the homelessness to housing continuum. The collective effort of its members has created a more collaborative, coordinated, and robust network of services for people experiencing homelessness in Jacksonville. The City of Jacksonville continues to support the Continuum of Care in Jacksonville, and the taskforce is now being led by Changing Homelessness.
Jacksonville Community Land Trust (JCLT)
Based upon the recommendation in the 2019 Strategic Planning Workshop Report, Mayor Curry charged the Office of Strategic Partnerships to work with community partners to facilitate the successful launch of a Community Land Trust in Jacksonville. Developed by the City of Jacksonville, the Jessie Ball duPont Fund and the Florida Housing Coalition, the Jacksonville Community Land Trust is a key investment to increasing affordable housing and reducing and preventing homelessness.
On Thursday, July 7, 2022, Mayor Lenny Curry announced the launch of the Jacksonville Community Land Trust (JCLT). The JCLT will help neighborhoods resist gentrification, provide community members with a meaningful voice in development and enable low and moderate-income households to build generational wealth. It will create homeownership options for low- and moderate-income individuals and families in Jacksonville, improve neighborhood stability, promote economic development, and build wealth while preserving affordable homes for future generations.
The establishment of the JCLT was made possible through funding provide by the City of Jacksonville and the Jessie Ball duPont Fund (JBdF). Additionally, the City of Jacksonville is providing ongoing support to the JCLT through the donation of surplus land. The City invested $250,000 in FY 2021/22 and included $250,000 in the FY 2022/23 budget to fund operations of JCLT.
Visit jaxclthomes.org to learn more about the mission, vision, and strategy of the JCLT, including information on the inaugural board of directors.
JCLT Highlights:
- In 2020, the City of Jacksonville was awarded a two-year grant by the Jessie Ball duPont Fund to support the establishment of a Community Land Trust.
- In 2020, the City of Jacksonville funded and contracted with the Florida Housing Coalition to complete the viability assessment of a CLT and the creation of the business plan and policies and procedures.
- In 2020, the City of Jacksonville became the first city in the State of Florida to pass the First-Look legislation permitting the JCLT to have first right of refusal of all municipal-owned real estate.
- In 2021, the City of Jacksonville JCLT planning team completed the analysis of the current real estate portfolio to determine available properties to transition to JCLT.
- In 2021, the City of Jacksonville and community leaders formed the inaugural Board of Directors for the newly formed Jacksonville Community Land Trust, filed 501(c)3 incorporation documents, and held its first Board of Directors meeting.
- In 2022, the JCLT was formally launched during a press conference led by Mayor Lenny Curry and the JCLT Board of Directors.
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