JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Sulzbacher Enterprise Village in Jacksonville has started the first of three construction phases for its $37 million development, which will provide 100 affordable workforce apartments and comprehensive wraparound services for homeless men.
The initial phase of Enterprise Village focuses on housing, featuring a four-story, 66,579-square-foot building with 100 studio and one-bedroom units.
“The solution to homelessness is a home so these are permanent homes, they’re apartments and so we will be able to house 100 formerly unhoused people,” said Cindy Funkhouser, CEO and President of Sulzbacher.
Phase two will include the relocation of comprehensive wraparound services from Sulzbacher’s downtown campus, including health clinics, a Mayo collaboration, and Goodwill job-training facility.
“It’s not just about housing people, although that is the end goal and the solution, but you also have to have the other services. The job training component is extremely important, that’s going to be in phase two,” said Funkhouser.
With phase three, an on-site for-profit manufacturing facility 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.
“The big picture is formerly homeless people are trained through FSCJ and Goodwill in construction and then they’re hired in this plant where they’re building affordable housing, tiny homes for people who are homeless,” said Cindy Funkhouser.
Phase one is scheduled for completion by the end of 2026, with groundbreaking for phases two and three also set to begin in 2026.