- The effort to bring a new homeless resource center to Jackson continues to face delays.
- Local non-profit organization Residents in Action (RiA) was at the head of one of two finalist groups that bid on the T.A. Wilson Academy Building — both with plans to turn the complex into a space for unhoused neighbors.
- RiA's bid of $150,000 was accepted and approved by Jackson City Council in March 2024 — but without verification of funds in hand.
- An expected closing date of 24 May 2024 was announced by City Manager Jonathan Greene.
- The building has not yet been sold, and the City still has not seen the money.
- RiA's CEO Tashia Carter says the sale has been held up because the grant her organization expected to use for the purchase is disbursed on a reimbursement basis.
- RiA did not have the money to pay for the building up front, says Carter.
- Carter says she now expects to be able to close by end of February.
- WATCH THE VIDEO for Greene's and Carter's explanations of the impediments and delays.
- BONUS VIDEO: WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH GREENE ABOUT THE SALE EMBEDDED BELOW.
I'm your neighborhood reporter Darius Udrys and, through an investigation, I've learned that the City of Jackson's decision to sell the T.A. Wilson Academy Building to a local non-profit was missing one key piece: the funds to make it happen.
"The facts right now is that the building can be sold for $150,000. I think we should take that offer."
That's Jackson Mayor Daniel Mahoney in March 2024, expressing a desire to sell the T.A. Wilson Academy Building to Residents in Action (RiA) for the building's conversion into a homeless resource center. City Council approved the sale.
CHECK OUT OUR COVERAGE OF THAT MEETING HERE.
City Manager Jonathan Greene told City Council on 2 April 2024 that the building was supposed to be sold by the end of May 2024.
It's now January 2025 — and the main building remains shuttered.
The City still hasn't sold it…or seen the money.
"Should we have asked questions? Probably," acknowledges Greene.
RiA CEO Tashia Carter says her organization didn't and doesn't have the money.
What it has is a half-million dollar grant award from the State of Michigan — but one she says is paid out on a reimbursement basis. That means RiA has to use its own money upfront to buy the building.
"Seeing, like, a grant, ultimately, a Community Center Grant from the State of Michigan was ultimately going to be the source of funds to acquire this property — some of those things were glossed over," says Greene.
WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH CITY MANAGER JONATHAN GREENE:
Greene concedes the City should have checked the financing.
He says no formal deadlines have been set for the sale of the building.
Carter declined an on-camera interview but told me through text that she expects RiA to close on the building by the end of February.
Says Greene: "I think we're here because a lot of well-intentioned people assumed and wished things to happen faster than they did."
I reached out to State Senator Sue Shink about RiA's grant situation. Shink told me she's working on getting some of that grant money advanced to RiA, and says she believes this will happen "soon".
Council Member Will Forgrave, who made the motion in March of last year to sell the building to RiA — a motion seconded by the Mayor and approved by Council — wrote to me that he's frustrated.
Forgrave says when he made his motion to sell the building to RiA, he assumed the organization had the money on hand, and made his decision on that basis, hoping for a prompt sale.
A written statement Forgrave sent me reads, in part:
"Council wants to do what's best for the homeless population and those in need and we also have a responsibility to Jackson residents and our constituents. Rolling out the red carpet for a contractor or partner who burns us like this is unacceptable, and while I can't speak for other council members I can say for myself, enough is enough."
CHECK OUT OUR PREVIOUS COVERAGE OF DELAYS IN THE SALE HERE.
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