The city issued a site-clearing permit March 6 for the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine near Jacksonville University.
RH Constructors Inc. is the contractor for the $846,000 project to clear 9.87 acres at 5415 Dolphin Point Blvd., on land north of the JU riverfront campus in Arlington.
Another permit is in review for Danis Construction LLC to put in the estimated $2.7 million concrete foundations and structural steel required for the 72,000-square-foot medical school.
The permits are the latest in construction approvals needed for the project.
Civil engineer Taylor & White Inc. submitted plans to the city Oct. 16 for the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, which announced a partnership with JU on Nov. 30, 2022, to establish a four-year medical school in Northeast Florida that will become LECOM at Jacksonville University.
The school is expected to begin classes in fall 2026.
“When we announced this historic partnership, in November of 2022, we estimated that LECOM would complete its necessary accreditation, select a site and break ground before mid-year 2025 — keeping them on track to welcome their first class in the fall of 2026. We continue to have confidence in that timeline and look forward to seeing their progress in the months ahead,” JU President Tim Cost said in an emailed statement March 3.
Previous plans show the three-story, 72,100-square-foot building is planned on about 9.9 acres north of Dolphin Pointe Health Care and west of the JU Health Sciences Complex.
Project plans show the undeveloped site is owned by OLT II Inc. of Ohio.
The 55-acre JU Medical Mall is owned by Dayton, Ohio-based OLT II Inc., which was led by JU graduate Gregory Nelson, who died in February 2021 at the age of 71.
Rimrock Devlin Development of Lake City is the developer, applicant and owner’s representative.
Kasper architects + associates is the architect.
LECOM said it officially filed its formal application with the industry’s governing accrediting body, the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation, on Oct. 12, 2022, to establish its fifth campus.