The planned University of Florida graduate campus would use up to $100 million from the city of Jacksonville for the opening phases of the downtown campus that would require construction of at least two new academic buildings and renovation of an existing office building, according to a proposed development agreement heading to City Council.
The agreement shows an option for UF to also construct one more new academic building and turn the Prime Osborn Convention Center’s historic train station into a hub for dining and shopping.
The UF logo could go up as soon as this year on an existing office building on West Bay Street that would be the starting point for the campus. The construction of new campus buildings would have its first grand opening by 2030 or 2031, a second building would open by 2035 and other work does not have any specific dates.
The proposed development agreement gives some framework for what Jacksonville would get in return for the biggest financial commitment it’s ever made for a higher education institution. City leaders have pointed to UF’s standing as one of the nation’s top research institutions for how the campus would benefit Jacksonville.
The Mayor’s Budget Review Committee approved the agreement on May 12. City Council will dig into the development agreement after legislation is filed and could vote on it at the council’s June 24 meeting.
The city previously committed $50 million and UF is seeking another $50 million for the campus. In addition, UF won $150 million in support from the state for the campus and another $45 million for capital costs of expanding UF’s Florida Semiconductor Institute into Jacksonville. That adds up to a total of $345 million.
Private donors contributed another $50 million but those donations will go toward programs at the campus, not construction or equipment costs.
Here are the five buildings that appear in the development agreement and the order in which they would undergo construction.
UF campus will start with former Interline Brands building
UF wants to start the first classes at the campus in the fall semester for a master of architecture program already being offered at a building in another part of downtown.
To launch the campus this year, the city must acquire a two-story building at 801 W. Bay St. and give it to UF. The two-story vacant building on 2.85 acres previously was used by Interline Brands and would be renovated by UF for use in the campus.
The 39,000 square foot building would be the initial administrative, academic and research building.
A vacant office building at 801 W. Bay St. in downtown could be acquired by the city for the University of Florida’s graduate campus. UF would use the building for the initial launch of classes while constructing new buildings for its graduate campus and the Florida Semiconductor Institute.
Two new buildings along West Bay Street
After renovating the two-story building, UF would turn next to constructing buildings on two pieces of property immediately west of it on Bay Street.
The development agreement does not contain any estimated budgets for what it would cost to build and equip the two buildings, but it specifies minimum costs for each.
One building would be at least 60,000 square feet in size and cost a minimum of $80 million, according to the development agreement. Another building would be at least 20,000 square feet and cost at least $20 million.
Notwithstanding the minimum sizes for the buildings in the development agreement, UF officials showed plans for much larger academic buildings during an April informational meeting at City Hall.
That presentation showed the first phase of new construction would entail a 200,000 square foot academic building and a 130,000 square foot academic building on West Bay Street. The smaller minimum requirements for the building in the proposed development agreement would give UF flexibility on the sizes of those structures.
A rendering presented during a University of Florida board meeting shows what a graduate campus built near the Prime Osborn Convention Center could look like in downtown Jacksonville.
The city would give a 2.36 acre parcel and a 1.22 acre parcel to UF this year for the buildings.
After getting the property, UF would have 24 to 30 months to start construction on the larger parcel and another three years to finish it, according to a memo by Downtown Investment Authority CEO Lori Boyer summarizing the agreement. That would put the grand opening of that building in 2030 or 2031.
UF would have up to seven years to begin construction on the second parcel and would have to finish that building by 2035.
New building on Prime Osborn Convention Center property
After UF finishes the first building on West Bay Street and is constructing the building on the second parcel, UF would have the option of acquiring a 14.71 acre parcel from the city at no cost where the Prime Osborn Convention Center stands with its big parking lot.
UF also would get another 2.12 acre parcel currently owned by the Vestcor Companies that is bordered on three sides by the convention center tract and on the fourth side by Bay Street.
If the city is unable to obtain that parcel from Vestcor so it can donate it to UF, the city would provide up to $5 million for UF to make that purchase. That $5 million would be on top of the city’s $100 million contribution for building the campus.
The first new construction on the convention center land would be an academic building that is at least 40,000 square feet in size and costs at least $40 million. Other buildings on the convention center property would be determined after UF does a master plan.
Historic train station in Prime Osborn Convention Center
The redevelopment agreement gives UF the option of renovating the Jacksonville Terminal train station that is the front part of the convention center so it would gain several food and beverage establishments along with retail.
UF would put at least $5 million toward the train station renovation that would be open to the general public as well as being a campus hub.
A fountain shoots up a column of water in front of the Prime Osborn Convention Center in downtown Jacksonville.
The timetable for UF exercising the option for acquiring the Union Terminal building and 2.13 acres would require UF to complete the campus’s first new building on West Bay Street, or have finished building at least 60,000 square feet of space at a minimum cost of $80 million on the two Bay Street parcels.
City would make $50 million contribution in four installments
The city previously committed $50 million for the UF campus. The second $50 million would be paid in four $12.5 million installments on Oct. 1 of 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030. That schedule means the city would not have to pay anything in next year’s 2025-26 budget.
The first $50 million of city funding would go toward the first $100 million of construction done by on the campus.
After that point, UF would be able to use the city’s second allotment of $50 million for construction of the campus.
UF leaders give update: Meeting with City Council members details grad campus in downtown
The development agreement contains a stipulation that UF would spend $45 million at the campus for the Florida Semiconductor Institute. If UF does not spend at least $42 million of that funding on the semiconductor institute over a 10-year period, the university would have to fully repay the city’s second allotment of $50 million.
UF plans to operate the Florida Semiconductor Institute at its main Gainesville campus and at the Jacksonville graduate campus. Jacksonville would be a “statewide hub” for research, development and workforce initiatives in semiconductor technologies, according to the development agreement.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Agreement shows what UF grad campus would build in Jacksonville
