Sulzbacher announces future in Downtown Jacksonville, plans for new development underway
Sulzbacher Center for Homelessness announced Wednesday morning the next three phases in its development.
Enterprise Village will be the new campus for Sulzbacher Center and focus on three steps to reducing homelessness: a permanent home, access to health care and training and jobs.
Sulzbacher, which opened in 1995, aims to address all aspects of homelessness, including housing, income and health care.
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The center is located at 611 E. Adams St., but that campus will be closed once its services move to Enterprise Village, a multi-use complex soon to be in development on Walgreen Road in the Norwood neighborhood, said Sulzbacher CEO Cindy Funkhouser.
Plans for the development include building affordable housing, creating a manufacturing facility to give jobs to those experiencing homelessness and implementing a health center which will include medical, dental, behavioral, optical and pharmaceutical services.
The move, which includes the relocation of about 100 homeless men, was prompted by a few factors, including flooding in the area and “the encroaching Entertainment District.”
Emergency housing, job training and a new administration building also are in the works.
Funkhouser said these plans will be split into three phases, the first of which is expected to break ground in the fall.
Phase one is “The Residence at Enterprise Village,” a 100-unit affordable, permanent housing for single men. The expected cost of this project is $31 million, and it is fully funded.
Funkhouser said Sulzbacher is in the process of underwriting and civil planning for this portion of the project.
The second phase, which should break ground in 2025, will include the health centers, administration and job training and education buildings.
It was important to look not just at housing but at “making significant investments in the city,” specifically downtown, said Darnell Smith, chief of staff for Mayor Donna Deegan and a former Sulzbacher board chair. Smith was representing the city, which has supported Sulzbacher and its mission for years.
Sulzbacher initially began moving its services away from downtown in 2018 when it moved 200 homeless women and families with children into permanent housing at Sulzbacher Village, located at 5455 Springfield Blvd.
Also at the Wednesday announcement was The Community Foundation CEO Isaiah Oliver, who announced a $5 million commitment to Sulzbacher’s project from Delores Barr Weaver.
Weaver has partnered with The Community Foundation on numerous, multi-million dollar gifts and established permanent endowments for nearly 50 nonprofits. Her grantmaking exceeds $209 million with support for over 300 organizations.
Sulzbacher is still seeking about $24.5 million in funding to complete the second phase of this project. A total needed has not yet been determined for the third and final phase.
The third phase will be the construction of a manufacturing facility, run in partnership with Florida State College at Jacksonville and Goodwill of North Florida, which will provide jobs and training. Construction on the final phase could begin as early as late 2025.
The project listed Vestcor as the co-developer, PQH Group as the architect and Summit Contracting Group as the contractor.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Sulzbacher Center plans for Enterprise Village to break ground in fall 2024
