Work starts on $42M, 100,000-square-foot student center at USF Sarasota-Manatee

The University of South Florida is set to kick off construction on its $42 million housing and student center at its Sarasota-Manatee campus.

Site work began last week and the official kick off to construction will be March 1, when officials descend on the campus for a ceremonial groundbreaking event. Work on the center, which will house about 200 students, is scheduled to be done in time for the start of the fall 2024 semester, according to a statement. 

The six-story, 100,000-square-foot building is an eagerly awaited addition to a campus where students have historically lived at home or had to find off site housing. The university says adding the residences and the center “will help the university recruit and retain students, including from out of state and overseas; elevate the on-campus experience for all students; and allow the Sarasota-Manatee campus — the only four-year research university in the region — to forever shed the moniker of being a ‘commuter college.’”