On June 21, 2017 LISC approved $4,548,000 in construction and permanent financing for the redevelopment of the former Lerner Building located at 20 West Adams Street in the historic downtown core of Jacksonville, Florida. The historic redevelopment of the building will result in 20 modern student apartment units providing housing for 60 Florida State College Jacksonville students, and a street level café operated by students in the FSCJ Culinary Arts Program. Construction will begin July,2017 and be complete in the spring of 2018.
The seven-block walk from 20 W. Adams St. to Florida State College at Jacksonville’s downtown campus goes past Chamblin’s Uptown book store, Hemming Park, the Main Library, the Museum of Contemporary Art, City Hall and the First Baptist Church campus. Cynthia Bioteau, President of FSCJ, says the college currently has 66 international students who the school has to find housing for each year. A new dorm could help solve that problem moving forward. “This will lend a great deal of assistance, support and enhancement to not only our student population who are international but our local students,”
The mission of LISC Jacksonville is to transform challenged urban communities into neighborhoods of opportunity. Janet Owens, executive director of LISC Jacksonville states, “Creating sustainable urban communities is LISC's expertise. We are very excited to work with FSCJ, the City of Jacksonville and the Downtown Investment Authority in reinvigorating our city's urban core neighborhood.”