About 100 representatives from potential developers of the first phase of the University of Florida graduate campus in Jacksonville turned out for a site visit Sept. 16 as UF prepares to accept invitations to negotiate on the project.
The session provided an overview of the project and the process for design and construction of the campus, planned in and around the historic Jacksonville Terminal rail station in LaVilla.
Sign-up sheets showed that attendees included representatives from construction, engineering and architecture firms based in Jacksonville, Gainesville and elsewhere.
On Aug. 27, UF issued an invitation to negotiate (ITN) for development of the first two new construction projects for the campus, sited on properties bisected by Lee Street between Forsyth and Bay streets.
The university’s timeline calls for the developer to be selected in March 2026 after a series of workshops and interviews.
UF said in a news release that the developer would build “more than 200,000 square feet of high-tech, cutting-edge research, academic, event, retail and administrative office spaces.”
Eric Bram from Rieth Jones Advisors, a consultant on the project, said the university had set a benchmark cost of the project at $1,000 per square foot, which would equal $200 million. The benchmark was based on costs of other major higher-education projects, said Bram, managing director of the consulting firm.
UF says it has amassed $245 million in state funding and private donations for the campus. In June 2025, the city of Jacksonville approved $105 million in Duval County taxpayer funding for the campus through an ordinance to convey five city-owned properties to UF.
Interline Brands building
Those properties included the Interline Brands building, which the city is acquiring through an exchange of a city-owned development pad at Riverfront Plaza with the Gateway Jax development team, owner of the building at 801 W. Bay St.
While accepting responses to its ITN, the university is working on a separate track to renovate the Interline Brands building, where it plans to offer graduate classes beginning in fall 2026.
Kurt Dudas, vice president of strategic initiatives for UF, said during an interview after the site visit that the university may select more than one developer for the first phase. He said the developer or developers would work with the university and a master campus planner, who has not been selected, to complete the buildings.
Responses to the ITN are due Oct. 3. UF will winnow the responses to a short list of finalists during the week of Oct. 20, followed by the workshops in November and December. The selected developers will have until Jan. 15 to submit a final proposal, followed by interviews and selection.
The Sept. 16 event included an informational session in a conference room at the train depot followed by two presentations outside at the entrance to the building and on the lot north of the station.
Campus plan overview
Dudas provided an overview of how the campus plan will unfold.
After the build-out of the Interline Brands building and construction of the first two new buildings, the university will shift toward developing new buildings on property west of the historic train station.
Plans call for the Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center to be demolished to make way for new construction.
The train station will be retained and adapted into the campus.
“The campus will launch with professional master’s programs in business, engineering, law, medicine and architecture,” he said.
“It will also expand UF’s research enterprise, beginning with the Florida Semiconductor Institute’s Advanced Technology Center and potential future clusters in artificial intelligence, health sciences and robotics.”
Colin Tarbert, CEO of the Downtown Investment Authority, discussed how the campus would fit into Downtown redevelopment, including the Emerald Trail. The trail runs along Lee Street in front of the train station and between the lots where the first two new buildings are planned.
Tyler Mathews, president and CEO of England-Thims & Miller, explained his company’s role in the project and outlined the selection process.
Among other services, ETM is providing due diligence and assessing utilities on the site, including wastewater and electrical.
Mathews said the company will work with the DIA and Downtown Development Review Board on permitting and design, and would coordinate with the master campus planner to help support the developer or developers once they are selected in the spring.