JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Members of the Brentwood community say they are furious with Jacksonville city leaders after finding out what is coming to their neighborhood: a small business center

A building on Golfair Blvd. is being turned into a small business center, against the wishes of the people living there.

A group of Brentwood residents held a rally in front of 865 Golfair Blvd. Friday. They have been rallying in front of the building since 2023, originally to stop it from becoming a liquor store. Now, it’s to demand answers from the city of Jacksonville. 

Lydia Bell is the President of the Metro Gardens Neighborhood Association and organized the rally.

“It’s not the city of Jacksonville, it’s our building. It’s the people’s building. They got it twisted,” Bell said.

Bell claims Mayor Donna Deegan told the group back in August of 2023 the goal would be to turn the building into a community center or whatever residents wanted it to be. The city ended up buying the building three months later.

Bell said they were never contacted for a meeting about the building, so they were surprised when they learned a construction company was awarded a permit two weeks ago to begin work on the building.

“There they have JSEB entrepreneur business center … and we knew nothing about it,” Bell explained.

The building is being turned into a Jacksonville Small and Emerging Business Center. It will provide education and support for small business owners and entrepreneurs in the area. People will be allowed to use it for free.

First Coast News reached out to Mayor Donna Deegan’s office about what went into the decision to turn this building into a small business center. A spokesperson said they decided this location would work best as a workforce development center because of the large number of small businesses in the area and “the opportunity to accelerate economic growth.” 

The mayor’s office also said the space of the building is smaller than the recommended size for a community center and the Brentwood Branch Library has meeting spaces for community groups.

The spokesperson added they did meet with the group about the small business center.

Still, the group believes this building would better serve the community as a community center.

“Instead of being on a computer looking for a job, we can show them how to make a job,” Bell said.

The new JSEB center is expected to open in May. The Brentwood community group plans to hold more rallies throughout the next few weeks.