$133M mixed-use USF student housing development gets thumbs up
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Nov 6, 2015

A 1960s student housing complex on the University of South Florida campus will be replaced by a mixed-use "residential village" in the coming years.

The Florida Board of Governors on Thursday approved USF's plans to enter a public-private partnership for the development with Capstone-Harrison Street LLC, a partnership of Capstone Development Partners LLC and Harrison Street Real Estate Capital.

The residential village will include student housing, a health and wellness facility, an outdoor pool, a dining facility and retail spaces.

The university said the demolition of four of the existing Andros residential buildings, adjacent support buildings and pool could begin in May 2016. After the demolition, a residential village with 1,250 beds will be built. The second phase, slated to begin in May 2017, will demolish the rest of the Andros complex and add another 900 beds.

USF expects to wrap construction in June 2018. The new student housing will mean 2,171 new beds and a net gain of 1,132 beds, raising on-campus housing capacity from 5,333 to nearly 6,500.

President Judy Genshaft said the development would be "transformative" for the university. Living on campus, she said, increases student engagement.

"This is very exciting time for us," she said, "and we know that students who live on campus, particularly during their first and hopefully second year, have an opportunity to become more connected to the university."

Ashley Gurbal Kritzer is a reporter for the Tampa Bay Business Journal.