- November 11, 2025
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Florida Gulf Coast University will build a 125,000-square-foot facility to focus on sustainability and resiliency at Babcock Ranch, the solar-powered community in southwest Florida.
The Fort Myers university and the community’s developers say their plan for a new institute in the development’s MidTown will move forward after the Florida Legislature approved $21.7 million in phase one funding.
Kitson & Partners, the developers of Babcock Ranch, are donating $3 million toward “related initiatives” as well as the land.
The total cost of the project is estimated to be $89.8 million.
The funding, the university and the developers say, will support construction of the facility, FGCU’s 11th academic building.
A university spokesperson says the designs are being finalized and that final design is what will dictate the construction timeline.
FGCU has 16,000 students and offers more than 95 undergraduate and graduate degree programs.
According to a Florida Local Funding Initiative Request filed in March by Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, one of the purposes the project is for students to “gain practical experience in resilient and best practices through service-learning and internship opportunities.”
Students, the request says, will work with local organizations and industries that have a focus on resiliency. That experience will promote “career-readiness and a commitment to environmental stewardship.”
In a statement announcing the funding, FGCU and Babcock Ranch say the facility will offer undergraduate and graduate courses as well as expand access to dual enrollment for high school students, programs through FGCU Academy and support workforce development.
Babcock Ranch is a 17,608-acre self-sustaining community that straddles Charlotte and Lee counties about 45 minutes from downtown Fort Myers. It is made up of energy-efficient homes with an 870-acre solar panel farm powering it and its own water reclamation facility.
About 50% of the community’s acreage is preserved.
