TU: Jacksonville bringing college life back to downtown

Florida Times-Union

http://jacksonville.com/news/2016-12-15/jacksonville-bringing-college-life-back-downtown

In Savannah, the sight of art-loving college students drawing in their sketchpads is as much a part of downtown as the city’s picturesque squares.

Jacksonville’s downtown has nothing that compares with the Savannah College of Arts and Design. But a budding college scene is emerging as Jacksonville University, Florida State College at Jacksonville, and the University of North Florida all look at ways to pump some academia into the heart of the city.

“If you look at downtowns across the country in cities that are thriving, colleges and universities are a huge part of that,” said Jake Gordon, CEO of Downtown Vision, a nonprofit that represents downtown property owners.

The city’s Downtown Investment Authority board this week approved a $274,000 loan to help Jacksonville University convert the 18th floor of the SunTrust Tower into classrooms. The university’s goal is to have students taking classes there in the first quarter of 2017.

It’s a bit of a return to JU’s roots. The school started downtown with classes at various sites, including the Florida Theatre, before the school joined the suburban flight from downtown by moving to a big riverfront campus in Arlington.

In addition to JU’s move to open a downtown satellite, Florida State College of Jacksonville is aiming for August to move 58 students into housing at a six-story building under renovation at 20 W. Bay St. The ground floor will have a restaurant as part of the college’s culinary arts program, which is housed in FSCJ’s campus on the edge of downtown.

The University of North Florida, which put its stamp on downtown in 2009 by acquiring the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville, started classes this year at the Jessie Ball duPont Center. The courses are for students pursuing masters of public administration degrees.

UNF is exploring the possibility of further expanding its downtown presence with an “entrepreneurial center” and offering graduate-level courses for business majors. UNF is “close to a decision and should know more definitely in early February,” school spokeswoman Joanna Norris said.

Gordon said successful downtowns often are built around what’s known as the “eds and the meds” — education and medical institutions. Jacksonville has the “meds” anchored by Baptist Medical Center’s downtown campus, so the next step is fostering the growth of colleges, Gordon said.

“It’s all incremental progress,” he said. “It’s not going to happen overnight, but all of these things are going to contribute in the future for what will be a tipping point for downtown. Right now, it’s doesn’t take a huge project to make an impact.”

Aundra Wallace, executive director of the Downtown Investment Authority, said the agency has culture, arts and education. He said collectively, those activities “enhance the experience of being and going into downtown.”

Wallace said Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Charlotte, Detroit and Orlando are cities that successfully used that approach, which has a ripple effect on housing and retail.

Jacksonville University expects to employ 30 faculty and staff downtown while enrolling about 100 students in classes at the SunTrust Tower.

The interest in downtown doesn’t reflect a withdrawal from Arlington. A day after JU President Tim Cost appeared before the Downtown Investment Authority, Cost took part Thursday in a ground-breaking ceremony for Dolphin Pointe Landing, an $18 million skilled nursing center next to the Arlington campus. JU students studying healthcare will work in the nursing center as part of their college experience, similar to a teaching hospital.

Healthcare also will be a focus of downtown classes, along with business. The masters degree courses will cater to students between the ages of 25 and 50 who come to Jacksonville “from all over the country.”

While the students going to JU will fit the profile of professionals getting advanced degrees, Florida State College of Jacksonville’s downtown housing will cater to college students earlier in their academic pursuits.

When the college surveyed students last year, about 1,400 said they would be interested in living downtown, spokeswoman Jill Johnson said.

She said after getting the housing up and running, the college will look at other downtown spots with an eye toward adding more places for its students to live.

“I would say most definitely,” she said. “This is Phase 1.”