{"id":56773,"date":"2025-07-11T18:54:54","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T22:54:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=56773"},"modified":"2025-07-11T18:54:59","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T22:54:59","slug":"talbot-house-looks-to-relocate-away-from-the-downtown-area","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2025\/07\/11\/talbot-house-looks-to-relocate-away-from-the-downtown-area\/","title":{"rendered":"Talbot House looks to relocate away from the downtown area"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Talbot House Ministries<\/a> is proposing to relocate its services to a new facility on East Memorial Boulevard on land donated by an anonymous benefactor.<\/p>\n\n\n

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CFTB Realty Inc., a real estate arm of the nonprofit Community Foundation Tampa Bay, has filed an application with the City of Lakeland to change the zoning at 1115 E. Memorial Boulevard, on the south side of the road directly opposite Lakes Church. It will be heard by the city’s Planning and Zoning Board at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. Katie Schultz, a spokesperson for the Tampa-Bay nonprofit, said it had a donor who provided the funds to purchase the 3.45-acre property for approximately $2 million in October 2024, as documented by Polk County Property Appraiser’s website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“There was no nonprofit named in conjunction with the purchase,” she said. “Other than it was to support a nonprofit that strengthens the Lakeland community and addresses some of the needs in Lakeland.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maria Cruz, Talbot House’s executive director, said her nonprofit service organization was excited about the proposal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This opportunity is not just a move,” she said. “It’s a mission-forward transformation that enables us to serve those in need more effectively while enhancing the overall being of the city and providing long-term solutions that strengthen the entire community.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A town hall meeting was held at The Well on July 10 to share details of the project with interested community stakeholders as part of the rezoning process, Cruz said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talbot House’s proposal<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jon Kirk, principal architect for Straughn Trout Architects, said he was hired by Talbot House to do a conceptual plan for its new facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I’m standing here tonight as a member of the community and concerned about where our community is going and how we will solve problems,” he said. “Good design is a tool, when used correctly that can help solve problems.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposal calls for a two-story building with about 58,000-square-feet of interior space, according to Kirk, primarily on the footprint of the former Epic Church. A building on the property, which has since been demolished, served as the home for the Florida Department of Citrus for half a century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s a larger square footage than the total of Talbot House’s current buildings on North Kentucky Avenue, which provide shelter to 220 to 250 people, and those numbers are growing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The face of Lakeland’s homeless population is changing. Cruz said she is seeing many more seniors on limited incomes facing difficulties with rising rents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kirk’s conceptual design puts the main entry for overnight guests into Talbot House’s emergency shelter at the western most point of the property, facing Memorial Boulevard. It offers a covered outdoor patio where individuals can gather out of the sun \u2014 with access to restrooms \u2014 to await entry into the overnight shelter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The additional access of a bathroom available 24\/7 would hopefully dissuade people from visiting any neighboring businesses to use a bathroom, Kirk said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A centralized doorway facing Memorial Boulevard would serve as the primary entry for individuals seeking access to Talbot House’s medical clinic or dental services. The agency’s Good Samaritan Medical Clinic offers free medical, dental and mental health services to uninsured, low-income individuals and is open to the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the east end of the building, there would be a separate entry point for individuals seeking Talbot House’s Employment Solutions center, which offers workforce training, help with resumes and interview skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It would also serve as an entry for Talbot House’s approximately 75 residential guests in one of its four programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A covered drive-through would provide a space for community donations to be dropped off, Kirk said. Behind the building would be small parking for the agency’s vehicles and food deliveries, as it prepares and serves more than 1,000 meals a day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One small but important component in Kirk’s eyes is having a second interior outdoor space for Talbot House’s guests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I think it’s important to provide space interior to campus where people can get away from the road, step inside a space that\u2019s safe, where they can relax and feel like they are not going to be run off,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concerns about loitering<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mayor Bill Mutz asked Talbot House what its plans were to address potential loitering or disruptive behaviors from individuals at their shelter \u2015 a common complaint of nearby business owners at its current site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael Tinny, Talbot House’s director of operations, said the agency will have service professionals on site round-the-clock along with licensed security guards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The agency has also worked with Lakeland Police Department to conduct scheduled patrols of the campus. Tinney said Talbot House’s staff has called the police during the day to proactively address lingering crowds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Tinney stressed there’s only so much the nonprofit can do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Talbot House cannot control community loitering,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tinney said the service provider also tries to discourage behaviors like panhandling and utilizing pedestrian crosswalks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Crime does not increase because of Talbot House,” he said. “We actually deter it, we bring them off the street into our house.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chantel Belloto, owner of nearby Skate World, asked whether Talbot House was considering any other locations to relocate. Her business is located approximately 600 feet away from the proposed site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cruz said no other sites are under consideration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Craig Collins, who was hired by Talbot House to oversee communications on the project, said that in working with the nonprofit, he’s learned how important it is for the agency to stay within close proximity with Lakeland Volunteers in Medicine and Lakeland Regional Health, where many of the agency’s clients also receive care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What’s next?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lakeland’s Planning and Zoning Board will hear the request for a change of zoning at 8:30 a.m. July 15 in the City Commission Chambers at City Hall, 228 S. Massachusetts Ave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Planning and Zoning Board would likely offer its decision no earlier than its August meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If approved, the proposal for a zoning change would have to go to city commissioners for a first reading and a second reading with a public hearing before voting on the zoning, which would allow the proposed project to move forward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Talbot House Ministries is proposing to relocate its services to a new facility on East Memorial Boulevard on land donated by an anonymous benefactor. CFTB Realty Inc., a real estate arm… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":56774,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"6","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNVwvMDdcL1NjcmVlbnNob3QtOTItNS53ZWJwP2ZpdD01MjUlMkMyNzYmc3NsPTEiLCJ0eHQiOiJUYWxib3QgSG91c2UgbG9va3MgdG8gcmVsb2NhdGUgYXdheSBmcm9tIHRoZSBkb3dudG93biBhcmVhIiwidGVtcGxhdGUiOiJoaWdod2F5IiwiYmxvZ19pZCI6MTYzMDQwNjYxfQ.pTDbWCzrqSC1VhGw8orCjxqL3XIAZtsmaW_V_F3_-ZMMQ"},"version":2,"attached_media":[{"id":56774,"url":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Screenshot-92-5.webp","type":"image\/png"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[11821],"class_list":["post-56773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-talbot-house-looks-to-relocate-away-from-the-downtown-area"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56773"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56773\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56775,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56773\/revisions\/56775"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}