Plan in the works to transform strip of Jacksonville motels with history of crime into housing

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A plan is officially on the table to redevelop Dix Ellis Trail on the Southside of Jacksonville, near Baymeadows.

It was introduced at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting. Councilman Danny Becton of District 11 has shown support for this redevelopment plan for quite some time.

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<

Right now, there are several low-budget motels that sit on Dix Ellis Trail.

Action News Jax told you back in April when there was a shooting at America’s Best Inn, along that road.

[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]

“We actually had an injunction on the hotel to straighten up, implement, go back to a lot of these legitimate business practices or else face being closed down,” Becton said.

However, around the same time, the property was condemned due to structural concerns and all guests were ordered to leave with little notice.

Our Action News Jax records show there have been three shootings at that location since the start of this year.

[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]

“Last night, upon our introduction, there are three new projects located over on Dix Ellis trail,” Becton said.

It includes America’s Best Inn, Days Inn by Wyndham, and Sonesta ES Suites.

Read: CDC: No brain-eating amoeba detected in Florida teenager

“I think it’s just a product of those hotels being old. They’re looking how to make money, and compete against the newer, modern hotels. And, sometimes just get a little lax in their business practices, which I think has a tendency of attracting things to their properties that we’d rather not see,” Becton said.

The plans are still in the proposal stages. Becton said it typically takes six weeks for legislation to go through council. He has high hopes that this will come to fruition.

Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.