USF Sarasota-Manatee Breaks Ground on First Residence Hall

  • By Matt Jones
  • 03/02/23

The University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee Campus, located in Sarasota, Fla., recently broke ground on its first residence hall and student center, according to a university news release. The building will measure in at 100,000 square feet, stand six stories tall, and will have capacity for 200 students. The $42-million facility is scheduled for completion in fall 2024.

“This project represents a significant milestone in the University of South Florida’s history and signals our commitment to the expansion of the Sarasota-Manatee campus,” said USF President Rhea Law at the groundbreaking ceremony on March 1. “We’ve made it a priority to increase student housing at USF because we know that living on campus can raise academic performance, support student retention, and create a stronger sense of community. This new facility will transform the student experience by providing more opportunities to get involved, connect with peers, and build long-lasting relationships.”

The bottom two stories will play home to a student center with amenities like dining facilities, a bookstore, lounges and meeting spaces, a ballroom, and offices for campus organizations including student government. For the first time in university history, the wide variety of student services will be centralized beneath a single roof. The new dining hall will replace the university’s existing café, which will be converted into a teaching kitchen for the university’s School of Hospitality and Tourism Management.

The top four floors will play home to student residences in a variety of configurations, according to the news release.

“The student center and residence hall will help recruit and retain students, and infuse students’ college experience with a new vibrancy that will allow the USF Sarasota-Manatee campus to forever shed the moniker of being a ‘commuter college,’” said Sarasota-Manatee campus Regional Chancellor Karen Holbrook.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Inglewood Unified School District Breaks Ground on New High School

    The Inglewood Unified School District in Inglewood, Calif., recently broke ground on a new campus for Inglewood High School, according to a news release. The project has a budget of about $240 million, funding coming through bond proceeds from Measure I.

  • Texas A&M Adds ALPR Technology to Parking Solutions

    Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, recently integrated automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) technology into its parking services and enforcement strategies, according to a news release. The university’s Transportation Services division deployed Genetec AutoVu ALPR to manage the campus’ 36,000+ parking spaces.

  • UT-Austin Breaks Ground on 17-Story Business School

    The University of Texas at Austin recently broke ground on a new, 17-story facility that will serve as the new home for the school’s McCombs School of Business, according to university news. The groundbreaking ceremony took place on April 10 for Mulva Hall, which will include amenities like classrooms, academic department suites, research centers, faculty offices, the dean’s office, and gathering spaces.

  • S4L Launches 2025 Facilities and Construction Brief Survey

    Spaces4Learning recently launched its 2025 Facilities and Construction Brief Survey, which gathers information on K–12 and higher education construction projects nationwide from the previous year. The data we get from you, our readers, forms an industry report offering an overview of current trends in school facilities.

Digital Edition