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Jacksonville city leaders and University of Florida trustees say this campus will attract lots of talent to Jacksonville and will be an investment in the city.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The University of Florida graduate campus will be making Jacksonville its home.
A unanimous vote during Tuesday’s city council meeting passed a bill on a redevelopment agreement between the city and UF.
City leaders and UF trustees say this campus will attract lots of talent to Jacksonville and will be an investment in the future of Jacksonville.
“This UF campus qualifies as one of those transformational moments, so as a matter of principle, I’m not just going to support it, but I’m honored to do it,” said Councilman Rory Diamond.
The graduate campus will be making the historic Lavilla neighborhood home, pretty soon.
Jacksonville City Council unanimously voted in favor of a redevelopment agreement between the city, the Downtown Investment Authority and the UF board of trustees.
UF Board Chair Mori Hosseini calls Tuesday’s vote a big investment.
“Today, Jacksonville showed vision. bold, long-term civic-minded vision,” said Hosseini. “UF is committed to delivering a world-class campus that will make Florida more competitive, grow our economy and attract talent.”
The grad campus will span across 23 acres of land, including a land swap agreement between the Downtown Investment Authority and Gateway JAX.
The city will provide $100 million towards the project and an additional $245 million will come from the state and private donors.
Tuesday night, council also approved a floor amendment from council member Jimmy Peluso on the design standards of the campus.
“I worked with the UF campus and they said that they are going to work with DIA to provide new directions to put into the downtown guidelines that will prescribe to how UF looks,” said Peluso.
Diamond voted in favor of the campus, after saying he usually votes against spending money on downtown projects.
“This is great, this is a big deal so for those who are upset with my vote, I get it, but sometimes it’s just Jacksonville first,” he said.
According to the city, part of the campus will include the Florida Semiconductor Institute, which is part of a national effort to improve research and workforce development.
“I think 10, 15, 20 years from now we’ll look back on this vote and feel extremely proud that we did this tonight,” said Council member Ron Salem.
Classes are expected to start in the Fall of 2026.
