After decades on Myrtle Avenue, nearly 100 Jacksonville Transportation Authority employees moved Downtown in December.
The new headquarters for administrative functions is on three floors of a historic building at 121 W. Forsyth St.
When it opened in 1908, the 10-story, 120,000-square-foot headquarters of the Atlantic National Bank was the tallest building in Florida.
“We’re settling in and people are learning their way around,” said Public Relations Manager Leigh Ann Rassler.
With more than 33,000 square feet of office space at the new address, the staff has more room than at 100 N. Myrtle Ave., and is discovering the advantages of working Downtown.
“It’s nice being so close to the Skyway and now we have a lot of people who are using the bus to get to work,” Rassler said. “They’re saving money on parking and it’s convenient.”
The authority’s dispatch department, operations and bus maintenance remain at Myrtle Avenue. The site soon will become a facility for providing compressed natural gas, which future JTA buses will use instead of diesel fuel. The groundbreaking for the natural gas facility is March 31.
Twenty sites were considered before the authority decided a lease at 121 W. Forsyth was the best choice. The move is somewhat temporary.
The staff will pack up again by 2019, when construction of the Regional Transportation Center in LaVilla near the Prime Osborn Convention Center is scheduled to be complete.
The authority took advantage of its status as a state agency to decorate and furnish the new space at a 65 percent discount off retail, said J. Keith Brown, joint use development officer.
The furniture and fixtures left at Myrtle Avenue won’t go to waste, however. Brown said the furniture will be transferred to city government departments or donated to nonprofits.
One element of the new address is a customer service center along Hogan Street. There, customers can add payments to STAR Card transit passes, pick up bus schedules and find out about job openings posted by the authority.
Rassler said the center, open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, will be easier to locate in a couple of weeks when a new awning is installed above the door.
Moving away from the far edge of the urban core into its center has been a good experience, said Mike Miller, manager of business development. Miller previously worked at City Hall, so the change has been a homecoming.
“I’m enjoying being Downtown again,” he said. “I see a lot of old friends and there are a dozen places to get lunch within a few blocks.”
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