JACKSONVILLE, FL (July 29, 2020) – The Downtown Investment Authority (DIA) closed on the sale of a key Downtown parcel to Minneapolis-based Ryan Companies US, Inc. (“Ryan Companies”). The DIA, acting as the Community Redevelopment Agency for Downtown, issued a Notice of Disposition for the City-owned property and voted unanimously to sell the land to Ryan Companies at the full $2.6 million appraised price. Proceeds from the sale will be used to support and fund Community Redevelopment Area infrastructure projects Downtown for the betterment of the community and the City at large.
Ryan Companies will build the new 162,000-square-foot JEA headquarters for Jacksonville’s electric authority in the Central Core at 325 W. Adams St. Plans call for an adjacent 657-space garage with 10,690 square feet of activated ground floor space. Emphases were placed in honoring the downtown skyline by designing with outdoor workspaces affording views of the courthouse lawn, the St. Johns River and the historic Hemming Park. Total project investment is $72.2 million.
“We are excited to partner with JEA and the DIA on this exciting project,” says Ryan Companies Senior Project Executive Mike Harryman. “We understand how vital it is to keep key businesses at the heart of the community and are happy that we can be a part of the team doing just that. Finally, we cannot wait to move into the construction phase of the project, which is anticipated to begin in August.”
The new headquarters, fully equipped with upgraded facilities, will allow JEA to serve its customers and the community, support economic development in the Downtown central business district and attract and retain an engaged workforce – all of which align with the DIA’s goals of retaining jobs Downtown and, as a result, increasing residential demand build around a quality workforce. The DIA is excited to welcome a world-class, class A office building to downtown and looks forward to construction.
“Thanks to Ryan Companies and JEA – this is a big win for DIA and Downtown! We are certainly pleased that we were able to place a vacant, undeveloped parcel in the heart of Downtown back into service and retain the JEA workforce in the Central Core,” says DIA CEO Lori Boyer. “This is the second major new office building project to close this year. We now have the opportunity to use the sale proceeds to complete the long overdue two-way street conversions of Adams and Forsyth, a project prioritized as far back as 2014.”
JEA’s new seven-story headquarters will break ground in September 2020 with a completion date in early 2022.