The Downtown Development Review Board deferred approving the conceptual design for the Jacksonville Transportation Authority Ultimate Urban Circulator Operations and Maintenance Facility.
The industrial building to house support facilities for JTA’s automated people movers is proposed on a paved surface parking lot at Jefferson and Water streets in LaVilla.
The 1.11-acre parcel is near the Skyway track and ramps to the Acosta Bridge and the Riverside Avenue overpass.
At the Aug. 10 DDRB meeting, JTA presented a new site plan comprising the building and two urban open spaces around the proposed building that had been seen neither by the board or the public.
DDRB Chair Matt Brockelman ordered that the conceptual approval vote be deferred until at least the board’s next scheduled meeting in September.
“Information was presented that was not available to the public before the meeting,” Brockelman said.
The board agreed that JTA and its designers will conduct a workshop on the project with members of the LaVilla Heritage Trail Committee and other stakeholders to ensure that the building and park designs are compatible with the historic heritage of the neighborhood.
Board member Trevor Lee said he does not like the proposed design of the building because “it doesn’t reflect LaVilla.”
JTA agreed to relocate an equipment yard proposed at Jefferson and Water streets to an internal area of the site.
The facility is designed to house repair bays for the automated people movers expected to start operation in 2025 on the 3.2-mile Bay Street Innovation Corridor loop between JTA’s Jacksonville Regional Transportation Center near the Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center and the Jacksonville Jaguars football stadium.
In January 2022, JTA awarded a $49 million contract to Balfour Beatty LLC — Vision 2 Reality Team for the Bay Street Innovation Corridor.
The group comprises Superior Construction Co. Southeast; Beep Inc.; WGI Inc.; Stantec Consulting Services Inc.; Miller Electric; Urban SDK; and Balfour Beatty.
JTA intends to start construction by the end of this year and complete the project by Feb. 28, 2025. The federal grant funding for the Bay Street project requires the Ultimate Urban Circulator, known as “U2C,” phase one to be in operation by the end of 2025.
Eventually, the Bay Street corridor will connect to a 10-mile loop linking Downtown to Riverside, San Marco, Brooklyn and UF Health Jacksonville in Springfield.
The project is estimated at as much as $400 million. In May 2021, City Council dedicated $247 million from the local option gas tax extension and increase to partially pay for the U2C’s development.
