UF needs more money for Jacksonville grad center as search continues for downtown site

The cost of building a planned University of Florida graduate center in Jacksonville has risen to $250 million and still needs a big chunk of money to round out funding for the campus that local boosters have compared to the impact of the Mayo Clinic and the NFL coming to Jacksonville.

The idea of building a UF grad center burst into the open nearly a year ago and gained $75 million in support from the state Legislature, a $50 million commitment from the city of Jacksonville and about $60 million from private donors.

But the estimated cost of $200 million for the project has risen to $250 million. Compared to the whirlwind of big-dollar spending commitments in 2023, this year's legislative session does not have any funding requests on the table for the UF grad center, which would offer research and education in the fields of health technology and fintech.

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UF has continued to work on plans for the grad campus. One of the next big decisions will be selecting a site in the downtown area for it.

City Council President Ron Salem said Monday "there's a lot going on behind the scenes."

He said that still could include the Legislature putting money into the 2024-25 budget that it will adopt during its session that started Tuesday and runs through March 8. "I think there's still a lot of time for that," he said.

Mayor Donna Deegan, who supports the graduate center being built in Jacksonville, said in November that after meeting UF President Ben Sasse during the Florida-Georgia football weekend "it sounds like plans for that campus are actually getting bigger. So I'm excited to move forward with it."

Deegan said she did not know if an expanding plan would result in UF asking for more city dollars as they had not asked her for an increase.

“I'm not giving out any money until somebody asks me or shows me a justification, but this is something I think could be transformative for downtown Jacksonville,” Deegan said.

UF gave the most recent estimate of $250 million when it requested more funding from the Florida Board of Governors for the State University System. The Board of Governor's document showed state, local and private contributions had provided $175 million of the cost but UF still needed another $75 million.

The Florida Board of Governors didn't agree to put that $75 million request in its submission for the 2024-25 budget. Gov. Ron DeSantis didn't include any additional funding for UF grad center in his proposed budget for the state Department of Education. No lawmakers have filed requests for the project for consideration in this year's session.

Funding quickly followed UF's announcement in February

Eleven months ago, Sasse and UF board Chairman Mori Hosseini joined Mayor Lenny Curry for a Feb. 7 announcement in Jacksonville City Hall about the graduate center.

“Today the city of Jacksonville and University of Florida are committing to explore opportunities to create a new campus in Jacksonville,” Hosseini said.

City Council, state lawmakers and private donors all swung into action.

Bolstered by the support of House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, the Legislature supported $75 million for the graduate center in the 2023-24 budget.

City Council agreed to pay $50 million for its share of the cost, starting with a $20 million appropriation in March 2023. After Deegan took office July 1, she voiced support for the center and put $15 million into her proposed budget that City Council approved, leaving the final $15 million payment for the 2024-25 city budget.

Private donors answered the call by UF for at least $50 million in philanthropic support. Those private commitments have hit $60 million, according to UF. Big donors include CSX at $10 million and Jaguars owner Shad Khan at $5 million.

"It's a lot of different companies," said John Baker, a longtime business and civic leader who helped with the fundraising. "It was amazing to see the interest and the willingness to jump on the bandwagon."

He said it shows the strong interest of the business community in revitalizing downtown and integrating high-tech into the economy. He said he hasn't heard anything from UF asking for additional local support.

"The only thing I've heard is that they were impressed with Jacksonville and our response, and that they're very much thinking about expanding the original concept in Jacksonville," he said.

UF leaders have continued to beat the drum publicly for the grad center. When The Wall Street Journal ranked UF as the No. 1 public university in the country, Hosseini said the Jacksonville center "is going to be an important part of our mission to prepare our students and serve our state."

Sasse said "our Jacksonville graduate center will give our students incredible opportunities to partner with some of our state’s most dynamic businesses."

Shad Khan site among three considered for UF grad center

In addition to the support from the city and private donors, UF also said it would need donated land for the future grad center. The city's financial support contains a requirement for the school to be in the downtown area.

The potential sites are in the LaVilla neighborhood that's home to the Prime Osborn Convention Center and Jacksonville Transportation Authority's regional transportation center, a second possible location north of downtown where the Florida State College of Jacksonville campus is located, and a third site in the sports complex.

The site in the sports complex is owned by the Greater Jacksonville Fair Association, but the association plans to move to a city park on the Westside. Khan has a contract to buy that land from the fair association at the sports complex.

The fair cannot move, however, until the National Park Service signs off on the city leasing 82 acres of land to the fair association because the federal government donated the land to the city. City spokesman Phillip Perry said that according to the National Park Service, a federal wetlands permit that's on track to be issued within the next few weeks still must be in hand, but there is a tentative agreement on the length of the lease being 30 years with two 10-year options.

Even with donated land for the grad center, the estimated cost of building the grad center has risen over the past year.

When the Board of Governors met in September to select Public Education Capital Outlay projects, known as PECO for short, UF showed a project cost of $250 million for the Jacksonville Health and Financial Tech Graduate Education Center.

The spreadsheet showed $75 million had been funded by the state and $100 million from non-state sources. UF requested $75 million to bring total funding to $250 million, but based on the system used to score requests, the grad center didn't make the cut for the projects recommended by the Board of Governors.

The spreadsheet for projected state funding over a three-year period showed the grad center in line for PECO funding in the 2025-26 budget, but the actual selection of projects is done each year.

Brittany Wise, director of communication for UF strategic communications and marketing, said "momentum is building" for the project and UF continues to work on planning and development.

"This is a priority for UF, for Jacksonville and for the state," she said. "Jacksonville represents a tremendous opportunity, and we are continuing to explore a wide variety of possibilities."

She said the center would "facilitate internship opportunities for Gators, promote research programs, and offer workforce-oriented master’s degree and certificate programming to supply the state’s growing need."

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Cost rises for University of Florida grad center in Jacksonville