JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The University of Florida on Tuesday welcomed more than 50 developers interested in helping build out sites 1A and 1B for the university’s future graduate campus in LaVilla.
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UF’s Office of Strategic Initiative Vice President Kurt Dudas said the project represents a major step forward not just for UF but for the city as a whole.
The community has been extremely welcoming to the University of Florida, and I hope that we give back as part of this, and I believe we will do so," Dudas said.
For longtime resident Bobby Harris, who grew up in LaVilla, the project brings mixed emotions.
“It’s the good thing and it’s a bad thing, the good thing that is going to serve the community well. I use the word community loosely. There’s not a community there,” Harris said. “If you want to say the business sector, the business community, yes, it would do it well. But the community that I once knew, with families and grocery stores and restaurants and bars and things that exist in LaVilla. That’s not a community that is there now.”
The Downtown Investment Authority said the campus will serve as a major anchor for the neighborhood and help fuel downtown revitalization.
“This is going to be a major anchor institution,” CEO Colin Tarbert said. “It’s gonna bring so much innovation and vibrance and just a lot of people who haven’t experienced downtown Jacksonville here to be part of the community for a very long time.”
If all goes as planned, 1B building could open by 2029, marking a new chapter for both the University of Florida and downtown Jacksonville.