Transit Transfer Center end in sight

EAU CLAIRE — Years after the project’s start the Transit Transfer Center’s completion is in sight.

While the lower Transit Transfer Center has been built, three residential floors still need to be completed for the projects. According to Cory Tietz, Eau Claire community services department operations coordinator, the work is expected to start on June 17.

The residential section, which will be owned by the developer Merge Urban Development, should take around 14 months after the starting date, said Tietz. They plan to be fully finished around July or August in 2025.

Tietz said C.R. Structures is the primary general contractor for the residential project.

The city was given a $5 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant for the center in 2018. It has seen multiple delays.

“A big component of the delay with the developer was because of COVID,” said Tietz. “Costs started going up and there was no real certainty of where they were going to level off.”

Tietz said since the time Merge moved “beyond a conceptual design” the city has been working with them on the legal aspects of the construction and making sure the top half of the building matches the bottom.

The Transit Transfer Center, which is owned by the city, is made up of a ground level and two parking levels.

The structure will be on top of the Transit Transfer Center and will be in the shape of an L, according to Tietz. It will have 88 apartments with at least 40 units that are affordable to people “whose incomes are 80% of the county median income”.

There are 135 total stalls for the entirety of the Transit Center, said Tietz.

Parking spaces will not be available until the construction on top of the Transit Transfer Center is fully completed, said Tietz. The parking space will be used by construction workers that are building the residential space.

Tietz said this will help construction workers not take up other spaces for parking when they are working.

The Transit Transfer Center is planned to be finished in the summer of 2025, ending a project that has been in the public eye for many years.