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A University of Florida Board of Trustees committee selected the area around the Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center as the site for the university’s planned graduate center campus in Jacksonville.

The Committee on Governance, Government Relations and Internal Affairs voted unanimously Dec. 12 to select the site and delegate authority to the university president and board chair to negotiate an agreement to convey the property.

The full board will vote on the matter Dec. 13.

A presentation to the committee included renderings and conceptual site plans showing UF buildings immediately north of the Union Terminal Station and west to the Forsyth Street exit of Interstate 95.

Includes Florida Semiconductor Institute

A news release from the city of Jacksonville said the campus is expected to open in fall 2026 and would include the Florida Semiconductor Institute.

The release said graduate degree offerings were being finalized, but areas under consideration include business management; data analytics; computer science with concentrations in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity; law; and biomedical and health sciences.

UF says enrollment at the fully built-out campus could reach 20,000 or more.
 

Mayor Donna Deegan plans to work with the Downtown Investment Authority and City Council to provide 22 acres, the release said. With the Florida Semiconductor Institute as part of the campus, the administration will propose $50 million in city funding for the project on top of $50 million committed by City Council in the spring of 2023.

In a question-and-answer session at City Hall with reporters after the committee’s vote, Deegan said the initial conveyance would involve two vacant city-owned properties next to the convention center.

Additional properties

Deegan said UF was working to secure a property other than those two, possibly an existing building, where it would begin offering classes in the fall of 2026.

UF had negotiated with JEA for a short-term lease of space on the fifth floor of the municipal utility’s headquarters building at 225 N. Pearl St., but a JEA spokeswoman said a deal had not been reached. 

UF announced nearly two years ago that it planned to open a graduate school focusing on health and financial technology in Downtown Jacksonville.

Since then, $250 million in funding has been committed to the project, comprising $150 million from the state of Florida, the $50 million from the city of Jacksonville and $50 million from private donors.

Deegan said the campus would be “another monumental step towards Jacksonville being a national leader in the industries that will shape our collective future.”

Mori Hosseini, chair of the UF Board of Trustees, said: “Our goal is to create a national center of excellence and to bring our bright students to this forward-thinking city. We are grateful for our strong partnerships with the state, city, and community leaders – we are going to do big things together.”

Jacksonville 'on the forefront of innovation'

UF interim President Kent Fuchs said, “Jacksonville – like UF – is on the forefront of innovation.”

“This is a place where our students will create great change and help transform the industries of the future,” he said.

The property near the convention center was among three that had been publicly identified as sites being considered by UF, including the soon-to-be vacated Jacksonville Fairgrounds and land near the Florida State College at Jacksonville Downtown campus. 
 

Deegan recommended the convention center site in a Dec. 5 letter to Fuchs and Hosseini. In the letter, she said the city would work with the university on terms of conveyance “so that design, planning, and construction can begin as quickly as possible in 2025.”

The Daily Record has requested details on the parcels under consideration from the city. 

During the committee meeting, Hosseini commended Deegan, Council members and Jacksonville business development officials for driving the project forward.

“The leaders of Jacksonville kept on pushing us, (saying), ‘Come on, let’s go,’” he said. “That’s so admirable. We all think governments are slow and never move. But they did an impressive job.”

Why LaVilla

Kurt Dudas, UF vice president for strategic initiatives, told committee members that the president’s office recommended the Prime Osborn site based partly on its proximity to interstates 10 and 95 and to businesses in Brooklyn and the Downtown core. 

Other reasons included the nearby availability of public transportation out of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority’s headquarters, and the presence of public amenities such as Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing Park and the Emerald Trail Model Mile. 

David Norton, UF vice president for research, said locating the Florida Semiconductor Institute in Jacksonville offered an opportunity for it to become a “world-class research facility” specializing in national security. Florida lawmakers approved $80 million for the institute this year. 
 

“The accessibility of Jacksonville with direct flights into Washington, D.C., make it much more attractive for us to really build-out something new that will be competitive to what other universities across the country have already built-out in the area of national security,” he said. 

Prompted by a question from Hosseini, Norton indicated the institute’s economic impact could eventually be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. 

Jaguars reaction

The Jacksonville Jaguars issued a statement calling the committee’s vote “a moment of celebration” for team owner Shad Khan and his family. The Khan family donated $5 million toward landing the campus and had offered the 14.1-acre Fairgrounds property, which in 2022 it agreed to purchase.

“Growing Downtown Jacksonville to be a versatile center for commerce, education, entertainment and lifestyle is a priority for the Jacksonville Jaguars,” the statement read. 

“With today’s news from the University of Florida on the location of their graduate studies campus and Florida Semiconductor Institute, our downtown is one step closer to that reality.”

Demolition in future

Deegan said that eventually the newer portions of the convention center, not including the historic train station, could be demolished to make way for the campus. 

However, she told reporters that plans involving the demolition would be years away, allowing time for the city to develop a new convention center. likely at a site near the current Duval County jail. 

“In terms of the convention center itself, that is probably 10 years down the road,” she said.

“You’ll have another mayor to beat up on, probably, by that time.” 

Conveying properties

Deegan said the city’s timeline called for the Downtown Investment Authority to vote in January 2025  on conveying the initial two properties. 

The city said the DIA vote would be on six parcels, five of which make up one of the lots.

The properties involved in the DIA vote in January are a grass parking lot directly north of the train station and an adjacent paved parking lot to the east, across Park Street.

Five properties comprise the block of Bay, Forsyth and Lee streets and LaVilla Center North totaling 1.33 acres.

The sixth property is 2.26 acres next to the east at Bay, Forsyth and Lee streets

“At the end of the day, a lot of space that we’ve had sitting around doing nothing and providing no tax benefit to the city is going to be a vibrant part of our Downtown,” she said. 

In March 2024, the State University System Board of Governors approved UF’s plan to establish the school. 

UF followed up by negotiating with JEA for a short-term lease of space on the fifth floor of the municipal utility’s headquarters building at 225 N. Pearl St. 

A JEA spokeswoman said Dec. 11 that no agreement had been reached. 

The UF colleges participating in the establishment of the facility include the Warrington College of Business; the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering; the College of Medicine; the College of Public Health and Health Professions; the Levin College of Law; and the College of Design, Construction and Planning.

Plans unveiled in 2023

Plans for UF to establish the school in Jacksonville were unveiled in February 2023, long enough ago that two of the principals then are no longer involved. 

Mayor Lenny Curry’s term ended in July 2023 and UF President Ben Sasse resigned in July 2024 after 17 months on the job, the shortest term of any non-interim president in the university’s history. 
 

Hosseini, a strong proponent of the proposed Jacksonville center, also took part in the February 2023 announcement and remains part of the board. 

Sasse, a former Republican U.S. senator from Nebraska, had touted the Jacksonville school as part of his vision to expand the university and turn it into an economic development engine for communities outside of Gainesville.

Sasse’s strategy involved partnering with businesses to apply research to real-world challenges and putting students closer to prospective employers. 

In his resignation, Sasse cited concerns over his wife’s health. 

Later, the Independent Florida Alligator reported that Sasse’s relationship with Hosseini had collapsed and that Sasse had more than tripled his office’s spending during his 17 months as president while directing millions of dollars of university funds into consulting contracts and positions for his political allies.

By Ric Anderson, Reporter
Jacksonville Daily Record

Upon being appointed to the board of directors of the Downtown Investment Authority last year, a few other volunteers and I were pushed directly into the deep end of the development swimming pool. Due to expired terms or vacancies on the board, along with leadership transitions in both Mayor Donna Deegan's office and Jacksonville City Council, there was simply no time to ease into the work.  

While these transitions were taking place, the demands on us continued at a frenetic pace. 

These demands include fielding calls from local and out-of-town developers; answering questions and providing updates at City Council committee meetings; negotiating multimillion-dollar development agreements; recruiting small businesses and helping them navigate the bureaucracy of local government regulations.

We also visit project sites to work through delays and complications or celebrate the completion and opening of a years-long project, so the agency is constantly in motion. While it may be easy to see stagnation and empty promises when walking around downtown Jacksonville, it is also not hard to notice recent additions to downtown and new ones on the way. 

These are evidenced by lane closures, dust, orange cones and cranes — all of which signify real progress and exciting momentum.  

People who live and work downtown often want to know why things aren’t better. Why aren’t there more restaurants, shops, services and places to gather along our beautiful St. Johns River? Visitors to Jacksonville from out of town and other states (particularly successful, sophisticated developers) often ask why Jacksonville hasn’t tapped into what they see as obvious opportunity and potential.  

The reality is that downtown Jacksonville does have more to offer, with more on the way. VyStar’s new campus, Vista Brooklyn on Riverside Avenue, Hardwick’s on Adams Street and the amazingly revamped Friendship Fountain on the Southbank are just a few recently completely downtown projects. Each of these also happen to be finalists for Urban Land Institute North Florida’s Awards for Excellence. 

The list of downtown projects currently under construction, permitting or planning is inspiring. Riverfront Plaza is being built while millions have been secured for its sister riverfront parks. In 2024 alone, eight new restaurants have been approved through our food and beverage retail enhancement program.  

The Four Seasons project is going vertical and the Artea luxury apartments on the Southbank are nearing completion. Also this year, Gateway Jax is scheduled to break ground on its $500 million multi-block project that will transform the Pearl Street area and the Cathedral Lofts is actively leasing units.  

For the first time in decades, McCoy’s Creek will see the light of day in downtown and two-way streets will return to Adams and Forsyth. LaVilla is now home to the only for-sale new construction in downtown, while also celebrating its history with the inspirational Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing Park.  

The interest in city-owned property from both local and out-of-town investors is real and some of the proposed projects are game-changing for Jacksonville. 

However, the Downtown Investment Authority and city of Jacksonville can do more for downtown. Both the team and its board know this; they are constantly working toward setting realistic and aspirational goals, improving efficiencies and tackling difficult or unpopular issues, while asking more of themselves and the development community.  

The desire to continue improving the experience of working and living in a vibrant downtown is real. As board chair, I am inspired by the constant response and performance of the Downtown Investment Authority and other stakeholders working toward the betterment of the city. Together we are transforming our riverfront parks, increasing residential options, programming events, growing small businesses and embarking on a leadership transition.  

Using inspiration to constantly reach for greater goals is momentum. Downtown Jacksonville’s future is only limited by our commitment to keep the momentum going. 

By Patrick Krechowski
Guest columnist & DIA Board Chair
Florida Times Union