Zach Brown
Client Executive
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Jacksonville’s construction activity, while slower than in recent years, remains on solid ground as major projects promise more activity on the horizon, Brown says.
“Our town center has several pending developments with local developers and investment companies,” he says.
This 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 stable right now,” Brown says. “Definitely slower than 2022 and 2023. The increased cost of construction has stabilized some, but I think several [projects] now we’re waiting for costs to start coming down.”
Healthcare owners are moving forward with new projects. They are also “pushing developments on everything from stand-alone emergency departments to new medical campuses stretching from Yulee. [north Jacksonville] all the way to St. Augustine,” Brown says.
A recent health care project for IMEG was the $215 million Baptist Medical Center Clay on Fleming Island, south of Jacksonville, for which the firm provided structural engineering services.
The six-story, 300,000-square-foot hospital has 100 large private rooms, according to its website, and room for future expansion 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.
According to Dodge, health care starts will grow from $345 million in 2024 to $437 million in 2025, an increase of nearly 27%.
Overall, for the Jacksonville area, Dodge projects a nearly $1 billion increase in construction starts between 2024 and 2025, though the projected $10.1 billion in new starts won’t peak of $10.9 billion that the area saw in 2023.
While commercial and manufacturing starts are expected to remain relatively flat, institutional and residential activity should see notable increases.
Among the most active markets, Brown says, are municipal, healthcare and education, and for IMEG, projects in the works run the gamut, such as the University of Florida Health St. Johns Durbin Creek, the Baptist Health Silverleaf Campus, the 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 on the possibility of a new stadium for the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars, with the city recently deciding to move forward with the next stage of the project.
“I would say the environment is stable right now. Definitely slower than 2022 and 2023.”
—Zach Brown, Customer Executive, IMEG
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, ENR has reported, with plans to invest $1.4 billion in the stadium and another 600 million in the surrounding area. .
The Jaguars and the city of Jacksonville reached an agreement on 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 owner representative.
According to information released by the team, the plans call for an energy-efficient facade using a first-of-its-kind mirror material. The material is configured to reduce heat retention by 70% and reduce field-level temperatures by up to 15 degrees. The stadium will have a base capacity of 62,000 seats, with the ability to expand to more than 71,500 for college football games or concerts. Other areas are also slated for major expansions, including a 185% increase in main lobby area, a 260% jump in upper lobby area, 13 new elevators, 32 new escalators and 220 food outlets and beverages, all connected by a network of biking and hiking trails with parks, greenways, beaches and wetlands.
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 next to the stadium along with a six-story office building. PCL Construction is managing the project, including the hotel, with HKS as the architect.
