This report was updated Oct. 3 with information from a Fansler Construction news release.
More University of North Florida student housing is expected to open in fall 2027.
The city issued permits Sept. 30 for a 237-unit apartment project for UNF in South Jacksonville.
Fansler Construction LLC of Jacksonville is the contractor for the housing at 4929 First Coast Tech Parkway at a project cost of about $33.45 million.
UNF has announced that construction is set to begin this fall.
The university said it has leased the land to the Chance Partners real estate development company to build a four-building that will hold about 700 beds, a clubhouse and a pool.
Permit documents list the owner as Chance UNF Landlord LLC. Dynamik Design of Atlanta is the architect. Kimley-Horn of Jacksonville is the civil engineer.
The plans describe the project as 237 “for rent” student housing units comprising 702 beds on a 17-acre site along First Coast Tech Parkway.
The four three-story wood-frame buildings, all with conditioned corridors, comprise two 51-unit buildings, one 54-unit building and one 81-unit building.
Residential amenities will include a 7,462-square-foot stand-alone clubhouse with a fitness room, club room, mail and package rooms and a leasing office.
There will be a maintenance building/dog wash, a trash enclosure, a dog park and outdoor amenity areas.
There will be surface parking.
The Jacksonville City Council gave final approval April 22 to rezone the 17-acre site along First Coast Tech Parkway between Glen Kernan Parkway and Butler Boulevard for the project.
Ordinance 2025-0178 rezoned the property from Industrial Business Park to Planned Unit Development.
Documents accompanying the ordinance list the property owner as University of North Florida Foundation Inc.
The complex would be between UNF’s Hicks Hall, which is across First Coast Tech Parkway to the west, and a single-family neighborhood to the east. That neighborhood stretches from Glen Kernan Parkway south along Hunterston Lane.
The ordinance came to Council after being unanimously approved by the Land Use and Zoning Committee and the Jacksonville Planning Commission.
Council member Will Lahnen, whose District 3 includes the site, said during the LUZ meeting he supported the project thanks to a layout and design that would limit its intrusiveness on the adjacent single-family neighborhood.
The project is set back 185 feet from the nearest home, with all buildings oriented so that outdoor activities within the complex will be shielded from the neighborhood.
The buildings will be set back 60 feet farther from neighboring structures than an adjacent complex to the north, The Flats at UNF.
Fansler Construction said in an Oct. 3 news release that the complex will be completed in May 2027 to be ready for students in the fall semester.
It said each unit will include a shared kitchen, living space and laundry, as well as private bathrooms.
Fansler said its work with Jacksonville-based Chance Partners, which specializes in high-end residential and mixed-use communities, include two North Jacksonville properties - Apela House and The Note, with a combined 575 apartments.
Ameris Bank is providing the construction loan for the UNF project.