JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As Jacksonville struggles with an estimated shortage of 50,000 affordable housing units, city leaders are turning to artificial intelligence to help accelerate one of the most time-consuming parts of the development process: permitting.
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The City of Jacksonville has partnered with Florida-based technology company SwiftGov to use AI-assisted reviews of development plans, a move officials say could significantly reduce approval timelines and help get housing projects built faster.
“The question isn’t necessarily do we need more housing, but what is standing between compliant projects and a building permit and how fast we can get it out of the way,” said Sabrina Dugan, managing partner and co-founder of SwiftGov.
Traditionally, plans for subdivisions, townhomes and commercial developments can spend weeks or even months moving through various stages of review before receiving approval.
SwiftGov’s software SwiftBuild.ai is designed to analyze plans for compliance with local codes and regulations in a matter of minutes. The system then provides results to city staff, who review the findings and make final decisions.
“We do have a lot of permits that come through the city,” said Nina Sickler, Jacksonville’s director of public works.
Sickler said city leaders have been searching for ways to streamline the permitting process while maintaining oversight and accuracy.
According to the Dugan, the AI system reached an accuracy rate of approximately 93% after being trained on Jacksonville’s local codes and regulations.
“Just like anything, it takes training, especially with AI,” Sickler said. “We started with a lower accuracy rate in the 60 to 70% range and then over just a few iterations we got above 90%.”
Officials emphasized that AI will not replace human reviewers.
“What we’ve got AI trained to do right now is what we call more of a sufficiency review.”
Sickler said the city expects the technology could shorten permitting timelines by 45 to 60 days during the initial review process.
Supporters argue those time savings could have a direct impact on housing costs.
“Every week of a review timeline that gets compressed is a week that carrying costs don’t get passed to the buyer,” Dugan said.
Development experts note that projects sitting in review queues continue to accumulate costs such as financing expenses, taxes and professional service fees.
“Time is money,” Sickler said. “The developers have a lot of carrying costs, whether it’s financing, professional services that they have to keep working on the plan. So it equates to millions and millions of dollars of savings, and of course getting these projects into the ground and up in the air as soon as possible.”
Dugan said permitting delays ultimately affect consumers.
“Every month a project sits in a review queue, the developer is paying interest, taxes and overhead,” she said. “Those costs don’t disappear. They get passed down to the buyer or the renter. In a city that’s 50,000 units short, we really can’t afford that.”
The effort comes as Jacksonville continues to experience strong population growth and housing demand. Recent national rankings have identified Jacksonville as one of the country’s top markets for first-time homebuyers and a housing hotspot for 2026.
However, housing advocates have warned that new construction has not kept pace with demand, contributing to affordability challenges throughout the region.
Beginning June 15, Jacksonville plans to offer developers the option of using the AI-assisted permitting system.
City officials stressed that human reviewers will continue to oversee the process and retain final authority over all permit approvals.
SwiftGov is also working with several other Florida governments, including Walton, Pasco and Hernando counties, as AI-assisted permitting expands across the state.