Jacksonville City Council approved a five-year lease and parking agreement with Mayo Clinic for a “general office use, administrative and clinical research purposes” at the Ed Ball Building Downtown.
Council unanimously approved the deal April 26 as part of the meeting’s consent agenda.
The bill approved the lease for 3,072 square feet of ground-floor space at 214 N. Hogan St. It appears to be the former VyStar Credit Union branch.
The agreement attached to the legislation also allows for a parking agreement between Mayo and the Downtown Investment Authority for monthly and hourly parking in the Ed Ball Garage concurrent with the lease term.
The agreement provides six nonreserved parking spaces for staff with monthly access cards. It also allows parking for clinic visitors with validation.
The DIA operates and regulates city-owned parking garages and street meters Downtown.
The legislative summary attached to Ordinance 2022-0216 refers to Mayo’s proposed facility as a clinic.
Mayo Clinic in Florida Communications Manager Kevin Punsky said by email May 3 that the medical system did not have any further details to share on its plans Downtown.
The lease has two five-year renewal options. Mayo would pay $49,152 per year in rent for the first year with a 3% annual increase. That rent would increase to $74,311 by year 15.
A Feb. 28 memo from city Public Works Real Estate Division Chief Renee Hunter and Public Works Department Director John Pappas includes a draft of the parking agreement.
“The agreement terms include providing Mayo employees with monthly access cards to the Ed Ball Garage and establishes a parking validation program providing free hourly parking to Mayo patients,” the memo says.
According to the bill, Mayo will pay the city $600 a month for the six parking cards. It also will pay monthly for the validated parking.
Mayo has been expanding its Florida operations in Jacksonville in recent years because of what the medical system says is increasing patient demand for complex care.
The Ed Ball facility would be Mayo Clinic’s first presence in Downtown Jacksonville.
The medical system announced Feb. 22 that it will start a $432 million expansion at its 4500 San Pablo Road campus to add five floors on top of its eight-story hospital, creating 121 new inpatient beds, including 56 in the ICU.
Construction will begin this year for completion at the end of 2026, Mayo said.
Mayo opened its hospital in Jacksonville in April 2008 with six floors and 214 beds. In 2012, it added two floors and 90 beds.
When completed, the 13-floor, 1.4 million-square-foot hospital will have 428 patient beds.
In 2021, Mayo Clinic in Florida says it treated 168,000 patients, performed nearly 20,000 surgeries and provided care for patients from the 50 states and more than 80 countries.
Since 2016, Mayo says it invested more than $1 billion in major construction projects, more than doubling its space by 2026 with facilities for patient care, biomedical research, education and technology.
Those projects include the Discovery and Innovation Building and the Dorothy J. and Harry T. Mangurian Jr. Building.
Mayo also plans to add a 252-room, eight-story Hilton hotel to its campus by early 2024 in addition to other clinical, emergency and parking expansions underway.