The Jacksonville City Council granted final approval March 26 for $3.5 million in funding to be used for the Jacksonville University College of Law’s relocation to its future home in the historic 121 Atlantic Place building Downtown.
Council voted 17-0 for the funding, the first installment in a two-year funding agreement totaling $6.5 million. Council members Terrance Freeman and Will Lahnen were not present for the vote.
Council member Rory Diamond said the college, along with the proposed University of Florida graduate campus being planned for Downtown, is “going to revolutionize our Downtown.”
Under terms of an agreement between the city and JU, the university must enter a lease for the Downtown site for at least 15 years and must receive a certificate of occupancy for its space in the building by Dec. 31, 2024.
The agreement includes clawback provisions in which JU is required to repay the funding on a sliding scale if it closes the law school within 30 months of disbursement. The scale ranges from the full amount of the funding if the school shuts down within six months, to $700,000 if the closure happens within 30 months.
JU is renovating 50,000 square feet in the building and is on schedule for a summer move-in. The university signed a 10-year lease for the space at 121 W. Forsyth St. at Forsyth and Hogan streets.
Supporters of the city funding described it as an investment in Downtown’s revitalization.
When completed, the expansion will accommodate as many as 450 law students, plus faculty and staff, within five years.
As its new home is being prepared, the College of Law has been operating in a 15,000-square-foot space on the 18th floor of the VyStar Tower at 76 S. Laura St.
The college was notified in late February that it was provisionally accredited by the American Bar Association. That bestowed the school with all the rights of a fully approved ABA law school, making its students eligible to take the Bar examination, become members of the Bar and qualify for jobs and clerkships exclusively available to ABA-accredited schools.
Two years after receiving the initial approval, colleges can apply to the ABA for an affirmation of their accreditation.
The college launched in 2022, the first law school to open in Florida in more than 20 years.
The 121 Atlantic Place building is owned by International Management Co. The building was developed in 1909 as the headquarters of the Atlantic National Bank.
The Jacksonville Daily Record’s offices are on the first floor of the building, where they will remain.