Plush N’ Prana owner cites crime, vandalism for boutique’s closure

A Park Street business owner is citing the ongoing violence and vandalism surrounding the adjacent apartment buildings with her decision to close her boutique last month.

The closure of Plush N’ Prana at 2761 Park St. comes as the city announced a $500,000 pilot program to provide housing to homeless individuals through Ability Housing – the same affordable housing nonprofit that owns the apartment buildings at 2755 and 2765 Park St.

Boutique owner Claudia Prana said the constant problems caused by residents and guests at those 12 units were a major factor in her decision to close her shop.

“This type of shop was a dream of mine for many years,” Prana said. “But unfortunately, I discovered the darker side of that location.”

Violence and vandalism

Patrons of Park Street boutique Plush N’ Prana were surprised to find the shop closed Oct. 1, with a poster on the front door explaining its abrupt – and permanent – closure.

“A gunshot in full daylight and repeated acts of vandalism have caused a constant decline in foot traffic,” owner Claudia Prana wrote, “and an increasing stress and anxiety on my part – always wondering when the next act of vandalism or gunshot will happen.”

The shop’s closure after less than two years in operation marked an unhappy ending to Prana’s longheld dream to open a boutique that would bring handmade kimonos, jewelry, home décor and other items from around the world to the Riverside community. She said she posted the sign on her former shop not only to thank her customers for their patronage, but also to call attention to the crime, violence and vandalism she said was an ongoing problem since she opened in January 2023.

Within two weeks of signing the lease on 2761 Park St. in December 2022, Prana said, her shop and two adjacent apartment buildings – located directly behind and next door to her store – were sold to Ability Housing.

“Since I signed the lease, I’ve dealt with three different property management companies,” Prana said, adding that problems such as a leaky roof were not addressed. More disturbing, though, were the problems she said she experienced both with residents and visitors to the 12 units owned by Ability Housing.

After pouring her heart into improving the freestanding building’s exterior, adorning it with colorful paper lanterns and potted plants, Prana said the decorations were repeatedly torn down, knocked over and vandalized.

Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office records show that since Ability purchased the buildings in December 2022, JSO has made more than 50 service calls to them for everything from noise complaints and vandalism to armed burglary, narcotics overdoses and gunshots.

In addition, homeless people roaming the Park and King business district also caused problems, discouraging customers from patronizing Plush N’ Prana.

“I have a heart for the underprivileged, but if whoever is responsible to take care of (the homeless) was doing it, they would not come into my shop,” Prana said.

On Oct. 1 – the same day Prana closed her boutique – a new law prohibiting public sleeping took effect. While the law was intended to address problems with homeless people sleeping on streets and in front of businesses, some local merchants say that forcing the homeless to move around merely sends them into their shops, resulting in problems.

“We don’t solve problems with Band Aids – we do surgery,” Prana said. “We go to the root cause. But if we keep doing what we have been doing knowing that it didn’t work, we just keep perpetuating the problem. That’s the definition of insanity.”

Pilot program

Two weeks after Prana closed her boutique, the City of Jacksonville announced it was awarding Ability Housing a $500,000 grant to provide affordable housing with support services to 25 chronically homeless individuals. The agency also recently announced a $500,000 investment from Cogent Bank.

“No one should be living in our streets; it is not good for the person or the community,” Ability Housing CEO Shannon Nazworth said in a statement. “This pilot demonstrates the city’s commitment to implementing real solutions to ending homelessness.”

While confirming that residents of 2755 and 2765 Park St. receive wraparound services from Ability Housing, an agency spokesperson said the new pilot program is not related to the issues Prana experienced at her boutique. Ability Housing also discounted the possibility that residents or business owners located near the pilot program’s housing for homeless individuals might experience similar problems.

“The perception that moving individuals from homelessness into housing increases crime is not supported by facts,” the agency said in a statement. “Permanent supportive housing (PSH) is an evidence-based model that improves lives for the individuals moving out of homelessness and into housing, while simultaneously reducing costs borne by the community at large when those same individuals are unhoused.”

In a press release announcing the city partnership with Ability Housing, Mayor Donna Deegan praised the pilot program as a way to offer homeless individuals a better life.

 “It is vital that we as a community come together to reduce homelessness,” Deegan said.

Prana agreed – but cautioned that city leaders need to consider the impact of their policies on all of the city’s residents, including small business owners, not just the homeless.

“Yes, it’s vital that we as a community come together to reduce homelessness – but it is as vitally important to ensure that in uplifting one ‘arm’ of the ‘body’ of the community, we do not amputate the other by careless supervision of the application of government funds,” Prana said. “It is imperative that allocated funding be carefully monitored to ensure that the ‘greater good’ is what’s really happening.”