The Sulzbacher took another major step in its decades-long mission to combat homelessness Friday, breaking ground on the next phase of its transformative Enterprise Village development in Northwest Jacksonville.
City officials, community leaders and nonprofit partners gathered at 4785 Walgreen Road to celebrate the start of Phase 2A, a $28 million expansion that will bring a new health center and workforce training facility to the organization’s 17-acre campus.
The project includes a 30,000-square-foot, three-story Federally Qualified Health Center and a 14,000-square-foot job training center that will serve both Enterprise Village residents and the broader community. Construction is expected to be completed by the end of 2027.
“Enterprise Village is living proof that we can solve Jacksonville’s biggest challenges,” Mayor Donna Deegan said, calling the development a model of collaboration between government, nonprofit organizations and private donors. She described the new health and workforce services as “desperately needed” in Northwest Jacksonville.
District 10 Councilwoman Ju’Coby Pittman, whose district includes the development, reflected on the years of planning that led to the groundbreaking.”It’s been eight years, and we are here,” Pittman said. “New beginnings.”
Phase 2A follows the ongoing construction of Phase One, a four-story residential building that will provide 100 studio and one-bedroom apartments for formerly unhoused men. That phase is approximately 70% complete and received a $15 million investment from the City of Jacksonville.
The health center will relocate Sulzbacher’s medical and behavioral health services from its downtown campus, while the workforce training center will operate in partnership with Goodwill Industries and Florida State College at Jacksonville.
Future plans call for Phase 2B to relocate emergency shelter services, tiny homes, case management offices and Sulzbacher’s corporate headquarters to the campus. Phase 3 envisions an on-site manufacturing facility that will create employment opportunities for residents and others facing barriers to work.
Founded in 1995 as the I.M. Sulzbacher Center for the Homeless, Sulzbacher has evolved from an emergency shelter into Northeast Florida’s largest provider of comprehensive services for people experiencing homelessness. Today, the organization offers emergency shelter, permanent supportive housing, medical and dental care, behavioral health treatment, meals, case management, workforce development and affordable housing initiatives.
Over three decades, Sulzbacher has become a cornerstone of Jacksonville’s response to homelessness, helping thousands of individuals and families transition from crisis to stability while expanding access to health care and employment services. The Enterprise Village project reflects the organization’s shift from providing temporary shelter to creating long-term pathways toward self-sufficiency.
Although recent reports have found a 49% decline in unsheltered homelessness compared with 2024, service providers say demand for housing and supportive services remains high.