EAU CLAIRE (WQOW) - It's been a year since the official start of construction at the new home of Eau Claire Transit, and while its construction is still on schedule, officials tell News 18 it is likely it will not open until 2024.

Eau Claire Transit manager Tom Wagener said the delays started with the pandemic.

"Pre-COVID we had projections based on another construction that we had that was similar in nature. And then once we got to the point where we could start going out to get bids, then reality struck," he said. 

Construction costs for the seven-story project went through the roof.

The transfer center on the bottom floors of the building was able to adjust and stay on schedule. But that was not so for the apartments intended for the top, according to city economic development manager Aaron White.

"With COVID coming on, it caused a lot of delays in terms of advancing the project forward. Then that rolled straight into logistical issues with the construction industry as a whole, rapidly rising construction costs," White said. "The project with the original developer just wasn't tenable."

With the original developer for the apartments out, finding a replacement halfway through the project proved difficult.

"Restrictions based on the design of the lower portion really defined what could be done on the upper portion, and some of the more traditional developers said it just didn't fit their parameters for what type of buildings they do," White.

The city was hopeful to come to terms this spring with a developer, but as of yet have still been unable to do so.

The delay in getting a developer on board means a delay in the opening of the new transfer center from fall of 2023 to summer of 2024, as there is no way to safely open until the bulk of construction has completed.

"There's really no physical way of doing it, because... there's scaffolding around the entire facility. I don't forsee how that could even happen, and why you would even want to take the risk," Wagener. 

White said the city plans to avoid similar complications in the future by using a single contractor and architect for the entire project, and having the respective owners take over the space after construction is finished.

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