Rendering of Sulzbacher Enterprise Village to be completed by the end of 2026. | Sulzbacher
Published on June 5, 2025 at 2:56 pm
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A $37 million proposal to provide housing for men without homes but who are entering the workforce has secured financing to begin construction immediately on Walgreen Road in north Jacksonville.
Sulzbacher, a Jacksonville-based nonprofit that provides housing and essential services to people experiencing homelessness, says it now has funds in place to build Phase 1 of its planned Enterprise Village.
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Financing for Phase 1 came from EverBank, the Jacksonville Housing Finance Authority, the Delores Barr Weaver Legacy Fund, The Jessie Ball duPont Fund, and the City of Jacksonville.
The Village will have 100 affordable studios and 1-bedroom apartments, geared toward what Sulzbacher CEO Cindy Funkhouser calls a particular client.
“Homeless men who will be working,” Funkhouser said. “So this is sort of workforce housing; getting people into the housing so that they can work and that’s what our number one target is.”
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She says with Jacksonville facing a crisis in affordable housing, these Sulzbacher apartments will be primarily for the nonprofit’s male clients who are 60 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI) and below.
Enterprise Village will train hard-to-place workers, including those with felonies and other barriers, and provide an environment inclusive of all the wrap-around services needed to support its residents as they enter the workforce.
The facility will also have 80 short-term units and on-site medical and behavioral services, a job training facility, and eventually, a for-profit business component.
“We’re going to have a large job training facility with Goodwill and Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ) and eventually a for-profit manufacturing plant on-site,” Funkhouser said. “So we’ll actually be able to hire people right on the property, but in the meantime, we have a culinary training program and lots of other things we’re working on with Goodwill and FSCJ.”
Eventually, Sulzbacher plans to move all of its downtown services for men – at 611 E. Adams Street – to the new Enterprise Village once the nonprofit completes three planned phases:
- Workforce housing of 100 units.
- Relocation of its comprehensive wrap-around services, including all of Sulzbacher’s Federally Qualified Health Clinics and a Mayo Learner’s Clinic, and a Goodwill job training facility.
- Instituting a for-profit manufacturing business.
Enterprise Village at 4785 Walgreen Road, just off I-95 and Golfair is planned to be completed by the end of next year. Phase 2 is projected to cost $46 million dollars, about half of that is already identified. Phase 3 will depend on how the partnership agreement goes with the for-profit company they plan to set up.
