Tampa Jewish organization to shutter and sell a campus, lay off 92 people

The Tampa Jewish Community Center & Federation is shutting down its 33-year-old campus in Citrus Park citing, in part, financial constraints.

The closing of the Maureen and Douglas Cohn Jewish Community Campus includes the shuttering of the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Assisted Living Residences, the JCC on the site and a preschool. As part of the closing, 92 employees of the nonprofit will be laid off, according to a letter posted on the state’s Worker Adjustment Retraining and Notification database Monday.

The board of directors has signed a purchase agreement to sell the property, in the north Tampa area, to an unnamed developer who will build homes on the site.

In a letter to the community, the Center & Federation’s CEO Gary Gould writes that “this decision was not made lightly” and that it “reflects a strategic shift to ensure the long-term strength, sustainability and impact of Jewish life in Tampa.”

The campus, he writes, has seen a steady decline in the use of programs “for years” and that it has been losing money “for quite some time.” He also cites rising insurance rates and security costs.

In a separate article posted on the website of the Jewish Press of Tampa Bay discussing the closure, Gould writes that the facility is also in need of a new roof and a new air conditioning system after Hurricanes Helene and Milton last year.

“It’s no longer financially feasible to keep the campus open,” Gould writes in the letter.

Gould writes in the article that there were discussions about a fundraiser and that a letter soliciting ideas was sent to thousands of Jewish families in the county. But the response was tepid. As was the response to an advertisement to recruit people to participate in focus groups.

“Meanwhile, the facility continues to lose significant sums of money every month,” he writes.

The JCC will remain open until the end of the 2025-2026 school year in May so the preschool and other programs can continue for now.

The assisted living facility, though, will close Nov. 30. Gould writes in the article posted online that the organization will offer support to residents and families looking for new housing options.

A spokesperson says in an email that there are about 70 residents, many of whom have already identified new housing arrangements.

According to a 2012 story in the Jewish Press, the JCC & Federation bought the 22-acre property in Citrus Park in 1992 for $3.25 million. The purchase included a former drug and alcohol rehabilitation center.

Today, Gould writes, also houses the JCC & Federation’s offices and tenants include the Tampa Jewish Family Services and the TOP Jewish Foundation.

Gould, in the letter, writes that the developer “is currently in the due diligence phase of the deal.”

According to the JCC & Federation’s 2024 Form 990 posted on its website, the organization had $23.87 million in total assets at the start of the year.

Its other campuses include The Shanna & Bryan Glazer Jewish Community Center and preschool and the Irving Cohen Center at Congregation Rodeph Sholom, both in South Tampa.