Student Center/Residence Hall

Facts and Features

USF Sarasota-Manatee's first-ever student center and residence hall is being constructed along Seagate Drive, just west of the existing Selby Auditorium and Crosley Campus Center. 

During the first major phase of the $42 million project, workers used a large crane to install 589 pieces of precast concrete that make up the building’s walls, weighing a total of more than 14 million pounds. Work also was started on the interior of the building.

Video Rendering

USF New Student Center and Residence Hall

So, what will be in the six-floor, 100,000-square-foot building when it opens for the fall 2024 semester?

Student Center

The first two floors, made up of about 32,000 square feet of space, will be filled with myriad services that address the needs of Sarasota-Manatee, residents and non residents alike.

  • A dining hall, managed by Aramark, that will be much larger and offer many more options than the current café in the Crosley Campus Center, which is being renovated into a teaching lab for the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management.
  • A bookstore that will replace the existing store several blocks south of the Sarasota-Manatee campus
  • A ballroom that will be larger and offer a more formal setting for events than either the Selby Auditorium or the FCCI Rotunda.
  • A game room, mail center, laundry facilities, lounges and study rooms.
  • Offices and meeting space for student government and other organizations.
  • Offices for USF World, which leads the university’s international education programs.

Residence hall

The top six floors of the building, totaling about 68,000 square feet of space, will be made up of suite-style and apartment-style housing for 200 students, in three available configurations:

  • A double suite, with one bathroom.
  • A two-bedroom, one-bath apartment.
  • A four-bedroom, two-bath apartment.

For more information about the residences, including how to apply for housing, click here.

Visit the USF Housing website for information about rates.

USF also is offering scholarships of up to $4,000 for students who want to be among the first live on campus in 2024. You can apply here. (Note: The housing scholarship deadline has been extended. Scholarship awards are limited and based on date of submission and until funds are exhausted."

Some students will be able to live in the new residence hall as members of an interdiciplinary Living Learning Community. Click here or here for more information.