Zach Brown
Client Executive
IMEG

Jacksonville’s construction activity, though slower than in recent years, is staying on firm ground as large projects promise more activity on the horizon, says Brown.

“Our urban core has several pending developments with local developers and investment companies,” he says.

That includes the new Museum of Science and History, the Laura Street Trio, the Riverfront Plaza and the Shipyards and Four Seasons Hotel.

“I would say the environment is steady at the moment,” Brown says. “Definitely slower than 2022 and 2023. The rising cost of construction has stabilized some, but I feel several [projects] are now waiting for the costs to begin to come down.”

Health care owners are moving ahead with new projects. They are also “pushing forward developments on everything from stand-alone emergency departments to new medical campuses extending from Yulee [north Jacksonville] all the way to St. Augustine,” Brown says.

One recent health care project for IMEG was the $215-million Baptist Medical Center Clay in Fleming Island, just south of Jacksonville, for which the firm provided structural engineering services.

The six-story, 300,000-sq-ft hospital features 100 large private rooms, according to its website, and space for future expansions to meet the needs of the growing community. A post-COVID hospital, the facility incorporates safety features learned from the pandemic, such as having negative pressure rooms in the intensive care unit and enhanced oxygen delivery capabilities.

Health care starts, according to Dodge, are set to jump from $345 million in 2024 to $437 million in 2025, an increase of nearly 27%.

Overall for the Jacksonville area, Dodge forecasts a nearly $1 billion increase in construction starts between 2024 and 2025, though the projected $10.1 billion in new starts won’t reach the pinnacle of $10.9 billion the area saw in 2023.

While commercial and manufacturing starts are forecast to remain relatively flat, institutional and residential activity should see noticeable increases.

Among the most active markets, Brown says, are municipal, health care and education, and for IMEG, projects in the works run the gamut, including the University of Florida Health St. Johns Durbin Creek, the Baptist Health Silverleaf Campus, University of North Florida College of Business Renovation, three new elementary schools for Duval County Public Schools as well as the Villages at Towncenter Apartments.

Meanwhile, much of the buzz among the AEC community centers around the possibility of a new stadium for the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars, with the city recently deciding to move forward to the next stage of the project.

Plans for that stadium, which the Jaguars have dubbed the Stadium of the Future, were unveiled in June 2023 after three years in the making, as ENR has reported, with plans to invest $1.4 billion in the stadium and another $600 million in the surrounding neighborhood.

The Jaguars and the city of Jacksonville reached an agreement June 25 when the city council voted to approve the redevelopment of TIAA Bank Field.

HOK Sports + Recreation + Entertainment is serving as architect, with AECOM Hunt and Barton Malow as preconstruction manager and IMPACT Development Management as the owner’s representative.

Plans call for an energy-efficient facade using a first-of-its-kind mirrored material, according to information released by the team. The material is set to reduce heat retention by 70% and lower temperatures at the field level by as much as 15 degrees. The stadium will have a base seating capacity of 62,000, with the ability to expand to more than 71,500 for college football games or concerts. Other areas are set for big expansions too, including an 185% increase in main concourse surface area, a 260% jump in upper concourse surface area, 13 new elevators, 32 new escalators and 220 food and beverage venues, all connected by a network of biking and walking trails with parklands, greenways, beaches and marshes.

The nearby Shipyards project, a $300-million effort to transform a former shipyard that has been vacant for decades, will feature a Four Seasons Hotel adjacent to the stadium along with a six-story office building. PCL Construction is managing the project, including the hotel, with HKS as architect.