Sulzbacher begins construction on next phase of Enterprise Village

The next phase of construction has begun for Sulzbacher’s Enterprise Village, a far-reaching development of housing, health services and job training for people without homes.

A groundbreaking ceremony took place Friday on Walgreen Road west of Interstate 95. The project’s first phase — 100 housing units and apartments — is almost three-quarters complete. It is predicted to open by the end of 2027.

Enterprise Village will have a 30,000-square-foot federally qualified health center and a 14,000-square-foot job training facility. It also will become home to relocated services from Sulzbacher’s Downtown campus, including health clinics in collaboration with the Mayo Clinic.

A Goodwill job-training facility and a kitchen, dining and training facility are also planned, to be done by the end of 2028.

“The Enterprise Village development marks a significant transition for Sulzbacher, which has operated from our downtown location since 1995,” Sulzbacher CEO Cindy Funkhouser said in a news release. “As we look back on three decades of helping the unhoused community in North Florida, we continue to look at the needs of our unhoused neighbors beyond a meal and a bed for the night.” 

Sulzbacher offers short-term emergency housing for adults and children who have no permanent home. It operates a men’s campus on East Adams Street and the facility for women and children on Springfield Boulevard.

Sulzbacher also has healthcare services for children and adults, with a sliding scale fee for those without insurance, at clinics downtown campus, a Jacksonville Beach clinic, and a pediatric health center at Sulzbacher Village in Springfield.

For more information, go to sulzbacherjax.org.

Sulzbacher’s path

The organization purchased the Walgreen Road property in late 2022, since its Downtown lease expires in 2029.

Thirteen month’s ago, the organization secured financing to begin construction on the first phase of that $38 million proposal to provide housing for men without homes but who are entering the workforce, including funds from EverBank, Jacksonville Housing Finance Authority and Delores Barr Weaver Legacy Fund.

The four-story, 67,000 square-foot building will have 100 studio and one-bedroom apartments.

Now work has started on the next part of the campus. A 30,000-square-foot health center will include medical, dental, behavioral, optical and pharmacy open to anyone in the community. The 14,000-square-foot job training facility will offer construction, health and culinary training, also open to the community.

Financing for this phase was provided by Truist, Federal Health and Human Services, the state, Mayo Clinic and others.

The next project comprises Sulzbacher’s Downtown emergency housing, tiny homes, case management, corporate headquarters and the addition of an Assisted Living Facility and other residential health beds.

Sulzbacher will begin a capital campaign for that project this fall. It plans to move the last of Sulzbacher services out of the Downtown core to the 17-acre comprehensive campus by the end of 2028.

“When the three phases of Enterprise Village are complete, the development will be a one-of-a-kind model, with all of Sulzbacher’s services — housing, healthcare, and employment opportunities — in a single location,” Sulzbacher board Chairperson Barney Smith said in the news release. “Breaking ground on phase 2A while watching the considerable progress of phase one (100 apartments for formerly homeless men) is gratifying.” 

The final phase of Enterprise Village will include an on-site, for-profit manufacturing facility that will provide employment for residents and create jobs for the hardest-to-place workers, including those with felonies and other employment barriers, while generating profits to sustain the organization’s services.