{"id":400393,"date":"2026-09-15T12:04:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T12:04:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/400393\/"},"modified":"2026-09-15T12:04:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T12:04:14","slug":"jacksonville-donated-20-acres-for-a-new-university-campus-the-300-million-project-will-bring-graduate-programmes-and-semiconductor-research-downtown-world-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/400393\/","title":{"rendered":"Jacksonville donated 20 acres for a new university campus; the $300 million project will bring graduate programmes and semiconductor research downtown | World News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Jacksonville Jacksonville is donating more than 20 acres of land in the LaVilla neighbourhood to the University of Florida for a new downtown campus, backed by a major public and private investment. The Jacksonville City Council unanimously approved the land transfer and an additional $50 million in funding, taking the city\u2019s total contribution to $100 million. According to the University of Florida, the wider UF Jacksonville project has attracted $300 million in investment so far, including state funding and local philanthropy, with further support for the Florida Semiconductor Institute. The campus is expected to offer graduate programmes in fields including engineering, health science, business, law and architecture, while developing semiconductor research in the city.<\/p>\n

How is the $300 million campus project moving forward<\/p>\n

The land transfer covers approximately 20 acres in LaVilla, an area of downtown Jacksonville that will become the site of the planned university campus. After the city council\u2019s approval on 25 June 2025, the University of Florida said it would proceed with closing on the property later that summer. The university described the decision as a major step forward for its Jacksonville plans.UF Board of Trustees chair Mori Hosseini said the decision reflected a shared vision between the university and the city. \u201cThis investment will create a world-class campus that serves Jacksonville\u2019s workforce, fuels innovation and expands opportunity for generations to come,\u201d Hosseini said. Jacksonville City Council president Randy White also backed the investment, saying: \u201cThis is an investment of tax dollars that will pay dividends for decades.\u201d<\/p>\n

How much is Jacksonville investing in the UF campus<\/p>\n

The newly approved $50 million adds to $50 million Jacksonville had already committed, the city\u2019s total investment in UF Jacksonville to $100 million. State funding and local private philanthropy bring the total investment in the project to $300 million to date, while further funding has been secured for the Florida Semiconductor Institute.The scale of the investment reflects the city\u2019s ambition to use the new campus as part of its economic and workforce development strategy. Jacksonville mayor Donna Deegan said: \u201cJacksonville is committed to being at the forefront of talent development.\u201d She added: \u201cAs our economy grows and embraces new technology, the need for a skilled workforce is more important than ever. Our partnership with UF sends a clear signal that Jacksonville is at the forefront of innovation.\u201d\"How<\/p>\n

Image AI generated<\/p>\n

What programmes will the new UF Jacksonville campus offer<\/p>\n

The new UF Jacksonville campus is planned around graduate-level education, with programmes in areas including business, health science, engineering, law and architecture. The University of Florida says these academic offerings will be aligned with the workforce needs of Jacksonville, linking the university\u2019s educational expansion directly to the city\u2019s changing economy.The campus will also include an applied research enterprise centred on the Florida Semiconductor Institute. This gives the project a research component alongside its academic role, with semiconductor technology identified as a key area of focus. The university said the initiative will contribute to its wider aim of supporting innovation and expanding opportunities in Northeast Florida.<\/p>\n

UF\u2019s plans for the new LaVilla campus<\/p>\n

Work on the project has already begun, including site preparation, property due diligence and the selection of a development partner. Rather than waiting for new buildings to be completed, the university is launching degree programmes in an existing building in 2026, allowing the Jacksonville campus to begin its academic operations earlier.New construction is expected to follow, with UF saying it will begin design, planning and new buildings later in 2026. The development therefore combines an initial launch in existing space with longer-term plans for a purpose-built campus in LaVilla, turning the more than 20-acre site into a new base for graduate education and applied research in downtown Jacksonville.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jacksonville is donating more than 20 acres of land in the LaVilla neighbourhood to the University of Florida…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":400394,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[159294,156638,159292,116,118,117,159289,159293,159290,159288,159295,159291],"class_list":["post-400393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-economic-development-jacksonville","tag-florida-semiconductor-institute","tag-graduate-programmes-in-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-jacksonville-university-campus","tag-lavilla-neighbourhood","tag-public-and-private-investment-in-education","tag-semiconductor-research-in-jacksonville","tag-uf-jacksonville-project","tag-university-of-florida-jacksonville"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=400393"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400393\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/400394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=400393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=400393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=400393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}