First Student Housing Planned For USF Sarasota-Manatee Campus

SARASOTA, FL — A new student center and housing complex is coming to the University of South Florida’s Sarasota-Manatee campus in Sarasota.

The planned development — a multi-story, 100,000-square-foot complex — is the campus’ first-ever student housing facility, according to a news release from USF.

The Florida Board of Governors unanimously approved the building Wednesday.

Construction of the project is expected to cost about $39 million. USF will contribute $16.5 million, with the remaining funding coming from the sale of up to $30 million in bonds through the USF Financing Corp.

The bonds will be repaid with revenue from the USF Housing System, as well as $200,000 a year in activity and service fees collected on the Sarasota-Manatee campus.

USF will break ground on the project, which will be build along Seagate Drive just west of the Crosley Campus Center, in the coming months.

It’s expected to open in the fall of 2024 and will house as many as 200 students

USF expects the housing/student center complex will enhance student success, including boosting student recruitment and retention efforts, and grow on-campus engagement, the university said.

“The new housing and student center is crucial to supporting the growth of the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee campus,” USF President Rhea Law said. “This new project will allow the campus to strengthen the overall student experience as it continues expanding its academic program offerings in high-demand fields.”

The new building will have two parts. The student center, with 32,000 square feet on the ground floor, will feature a new bookstore and spaces for dining, lounges and meeting rooms. Student housing, with 68,000 square feet on the upper floors, will be comprised of 70 double-occupancy bedrooms and 60 single-occupancy bedrooms in one-bedroom, two-bedroom and four-bedroom apartment-style configurations, with shared bathrooms, living spaces and kitchens or kitchenettes.

Karen Holbrook, regional chancellor for the Sarasota-Manatee campus, says the new building will bring an added sense of vibrancy to campus.

"Our students have often told us they would like to live on campus and enjoy a traditional college experience. The new student center and residence hall will transform our beautiful campus and provide our students with new opportunities for success,” she said. “This project has been considered for several years, and I’m grateful to President Law for helping bring it to fruition, and to the Board of Governors and the USF Board of Trustees for their support.”

Sarasota-Manatee student government Gov. Evelyn De Oliveira said students are excited about the new complex. She expects that there will be high demand for the chance to live on campus.

“With on-campus housing, students will have a chance to interact with each other more as well as experience student life on-campus instead of having to commute every day,” she said. “I believe the demand is there even though we are a small campus. It will give students the opportunity to experience living on their own, including international students who want to come to USF but would like the close-knit environment.”

In a recent study, a USF consultant reported that for many students, living on campus would be more affordable than many off-campus options in the Sarasota-Manatee area, one of the more expensive rental markets of similar size in the country, the university system said. This fall, more students than ever before are living on USF’s campuses in Tampa and St. Petersburg.