USF to spend 2026 under construction with new developments planned across campus

The University of South Florida is turning 70 next year, and it’s celebrating by getting quite the facelift. 

With incoming president Moez Limayem at the helm, the university will embark and continue on multiple major development projects in 2026: from an on-campus football stadium to a state-of-the-art athletics building to a massive, mixed-use development known as the Fletcher District. 

USF formally broke ground on its long-awaited on-campus stadium in November 2024, but site work will intensify in the coming year as the university aims for a fall 2027 opening just in time for football season. 

The university’s Board of Trustees approved an updated plan for the new, $348.5 million stadium complex in April that includes a state-of-the-art “football operations center” dubbed the TGH Center for Athletic Excellence. That 150,000-square-foot hub for players and USF Athletics staff will be attached to the stadium, adjacent to the team’s current Porter Family Indoor Performance Facility and practice fields on the east side of the USF Tampa campus, according to a news release. 

New renderings of the future home of USF Football show a grand entrance lobby with a two-story high ceiling, along with a high performance weight room, team meeting room, dining area, coaches’ offices, position meeting rooms and a players’ lounge. 

The TGH Center will also house some more nontraditional amenities for the team, such as sports medicine and recovery facilities, a barbershop, a recording and mixing studio, a nutrition bar and even a golf simulator. 

In a release, before he left for the head coaching job at Auburn Nov. 30, former Bulls Head Coach Alex Golesh calls the on-campus stadium and TGH Center the “nicest football complex in the entire country.” USF named Ohio State University offensive coordinator and NFL veteran player Brian Hartline the next Bulls coach Dec. 3. 

Hartline, 39, signed a six-year deal with the university and is expected to remain with the Ohio State Buckeyes during the school’s post-season run. 

When seeking Golesh’s replacement, the university decided to “swing for the fences,” USF’s new CEO of Athletics Rob Higgins said during a press conference pep rally to welcome Hartline in early December. And, as he prepared to introduce his “dream football coach” to the university alongside USF Athletics’ new COO, Tampa Bay Buccaneer legend Derrick Brooks, Higgins admitted he stood before the crowd “with goosebumps, eyes watering, because I know exactly what this means to all of us.”

“Welcome to the most exciting chapter of USF Football,” Higgins said. “(Hartline) is gritty. He’s smart. He does things the right way. He’s truly all gas and no breaks.” 

In addition to continued work around the stadium complex, USF plans to formally break ground in spring 2026 on a mixed-use development on the site of its defunct on-campus golf course The Claw. 

“The Fletcher District will be a vibrant new hub of activity for our students, other members of the university community and the surrounding area,” USF President Rhea Law says. “The project provides a unique opportunity to transform an underutilized part of our campus into a prime destination to live, work, learn and play.”

The university received state-level approval in November for its Fletcher District plans, which include student and multifamily housing, restaurants, retail, a hotel and conference center, an academic research facility and recreation space.

The university plans to open phase 1 of the district, located north of Fletcher Avenue and east of North 46th Street, by fall 2028, according to a release. It will be developed as a public-private partnership, with the university entering into a master development agreement with ACE Fletcher LLC. ACE Fletcher, Florida Department of State records show, is managed by Aureate Development, which was founded by prominent Tampa physician, entrepreneur and philanthropist Dr. Kiran Patel.

Each component of the project will be managed through separate ground subleases with private developers. Though phase 1 uses approximately 27 acres, the full site is 138 acres, which could be used for future development. The nearby USF Forest Preserve will not be developed. 

Within walking distance from the on-campus stadium, USF envisions the Fletcher District as a meeting point for students, alumni and fans to come together before and after football games and other major events. 

“USF is one of the county’s largest and most important economic engines,” Hillsborough County Commission Chairman Ken Hagan says in a release. “Along with the on-campus stadium, this project is a critical piece of this overall transformation and Hillsborough County is very proud to partner in this growth.” 

Other development projects in the works at USF include a new Office of Veteran Success on the St. Petersburg campus and a STEM academic facility on the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee campus, university administrators say. 

The new STEM facility, which celebrated its groundbreaking in November, will expand high-quality lab instruction in chemistry, biology and physics for students across the university.

Set to open in Fall 2027, the new facility will be approximately 7,000 gross square feet of state-of-the-art laboratories for an estimated cost of $6.5 million. As it now stands, students are required to leave campus to attend lab sessions at partner facilities.