Future of Cities, the Miami-based developer of the Phoenix Arts & Innovation District in Jacksonville, and a new partner announced May 11 they had obtained a package of tax credits and city funding for an 80-unit affordable housing community in the North Springfield development.
In a news release, Future of Cities and Blue Sky Communities said they had been awarded a 9% Low-Income Housing Tax Credit from the Florida Housing Finance Corp. to develop the $33 million apartment project. The release said the funding was secured through a “highly competitive statewide process” and included $27 million in tax credits plus a $610,000 Local Government Area of Opportunity contribution from the city of Jacksonville and the Jacksonville Housing Finance Authority.
Blue Sky Communities, of St. Petersburg, has developed 30 affordable housing projects in Jacksonville and elsewhere in Florida, according to its website.
“This is a defining moment for PHXJAX and a validation of a development approach rooted in community engagement,” said Tony Cho, founder and CEO of Future of Cities, in the release. “Affordable housing has always been a central pillar of our vision, and launching our first vertical development with this commitment reflects the priorities we heard directly from the community.”
Future of Cities says its plans for the district include up to $500 million in renovations to industrial buildings and new construction. The district is bordered primarily by Main, 15th and Liberty streets and an east-west rail line, with three parcels south of the line.
A summary of the LIHTC program on the U.S. Congress website, congress.gov, says it awards federal tax credits to developers to offset construction costs in exchange for agreeing to reserve units that are rent-restricted for lower-income housholds. The credits, which are administered through the state, are claimed over a 10-year period. The site says developers generally sell the credits to outside investors, often financial institutions, in exhange for equity financing.
“The equity reduces the financing developers would otherwise have to secure and allows tax credit properties to offer more affordable rents,” the site says.
Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan said in the release that expanding access to housing, especially in the community’s core, was one of her administration’s highest priorities.
“This project is a strong example of what can be achieved through public-private partnership, and it joins nearly 7,000 quality, attainable housing units completed or on the way since I took office,” she said.
Future of Cities announced in March 2026 it had partnered with Jacksonville-based Live Oak Contracting to begin the second phase of the project, which will involve new construction.
According to a release on the Live Oak partnership, the project will repurpose 120,000 square feet of industrial buildings into “modern creative space” as part of a mixed-use development that will include up to 830 multifamily units. Affordable, workforce and market-rate housing will be included.
A rendering attached to the release showed six multistory buildings near the revitalized warehouses.
Michael Weil, project executive and chief operations officer for Future of Cities, said during an April 17 interview that planning was underway for new construction on undeveloped land identified as Dev Sites A and B.
Those projects, he said, include a concept for a residential building and a parking structure, possibly connected by a skyway, to provide access for district residents and the community to the Emerald Trail, the 30-mile system of pedestrian and cycling paths in and around Downtown Jacksonville.