New garage will support VyStar employees and downtown Jacksonville community
Jacksonville, Florida — VyStar Credit Union on Wednesday held a groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the official start of construction on its Forsyth Street parking garage, a seven-level, 807-space venue that will be located at 28 W. Forsyth Street in downtown Jacksonville.
The privately funded garage will provide additional downtown parking for VyStar employees and up to 250 public parking spaces. It will also include about 12,000 square feet of retail space in support of the Laura Street Trio redevelopment. Completion of the project is expected to take about 12 months.
“This is an exciting project that will support VyStar’s efforts to be a great place to work for every employee and emphasize our ongoing commitment to revitalizing downtown Jacksonville,” said VyStar President/CEO Brian Wolfburg. “We continue to push ourselves to grow, to innovate and to evolve, and the result will be a community that can be better enjoyed by everyone.”
“We are delighted to have this important downtown project underway,” said Brian Kitchens, Senior Vice President of Facilities and Security at VyStar. “We’re proud to work with an incredibly cooperative and nimble team at the City of Jacksonville and our vendor partners to move this project forward.”
Officials from VyStar, Danis Builders and the Downtown Investment Authority spoke as part of the on-site ceremony. In addition to adding energy to downtown Jacksonville, the project will also make an economic impact, as Danis has prioritized working with local contractors to support job creation in Northeast Florida.
“We are excited to work with VyStar Credit Union as they carry out their commitment to improve Jacksonville and our downtown,” said David Kottmyer, Vice President of Operations at Danis. “Their passion and support for our community is unmatched, and we appreciate their trust and confidence in Danis to execute this important project.”
The Forsyth Street parking garage groundbreaking is VyStar’s latest achievement in supporting the growth of downtown Jacksonville. Earlier this year, the credit union welcomed three restaurants to the VyStar Campus: The Bread & Board, Estrella Cocina and Bread & Burger, in addition to a Provisions marketplace. Each is operated by the owners of The Bread & Board.
VyStar Credit Union is the second-largest credit union headquartered in Florida and now serves over 770,000 members with assets totaling $11 billion. VyStar is the largest mortgage lender in Northeast Florida and one of the major employers in the region with over 2,000 employees. VyStar membership is open to everyone who lives or works in the 49 contiguous counties of Central to North Florida, 10 Southern Georgia counties and past and present military members and their families all over the world.