USF Breaks Ground on Nearly $500M Uptown Landing
USF Breaks Ground on Nearly $500M Uptown Landing
USF has started construction on Uptown Landing, the renamed Fletcher District. The first phase brings student housing, a hotel, restaurants and a $225 million research institute by fall 2028.
USF has started construction on Uptown Landing, the renamed Fletcher District. The first phase brings student housing, a hotel, restaurants and a $225 million research institute by fall 2028.
The University of South Florida broke ground September 8 on the first phase of a nearly $500 million mixed-use district on the site of its former Claw golf course. At the same ceremony, it retired the project's working name: the development long known as the Fletcher District is now Uptown Landing.
Phase one covers roughly 30 acres north of Fletcher Avenue and east of North 46th Street. That puts it within walking distance of USF's $348.5 million on-campus football stadium, which is scheduled to open for the 2027 season. Uptown Landing's first phase is expected to open in time for the fall 2028 semester.
USF calls the agreement the largest public-private partnership in the history of Florida's State University System.
"Uptown Landing is much more than a new neighborhood. This will be a destination anchored by USF, but created for the entire community," USF President Moez Limayem said in the university's announcement.
What's in phase one
According to USF's project FAQ, the first phase includes:
Student housing: about 700 beds in roughly 350,000 square feet
Affiliate housing: about 150 apartments for graduate students and university employees, totaling roughly 190,000 square feet
Retail and dining: about 60,000 square feet, including four to six restaurants
Hotel and conference center: 150 rooms with about 5,000 square feet of conference space
Academic research building: roughly 350,000 square feet
Green and recreation space throughout the district
The research building will house USF's Translational Research Institute. The university says it is designed for about 100 NIH-funded investigators and roughly 1,000 more researchers. It is the single largest piece of the project, at about $225 million.
Capstone Development Partners' groundbreaking release gives slightly higher numbers for some pieces: 717 student beds, 152 apartments and 68,000 square feet of food-and-beverage-focused retail.
How the deal is structured
The roughly $500 million total breaks into two parts. About $270 million covers the privately developed P3 components: housing, hotel and retail. About $225 million goes to the research building.
USF keeps ownership of the land. The master developer is ACE Fletcher LLC, a partnership of Capstone Development Partners, Aureate Development and Ellison Development. USF and some outlets also list Capstone Communities. Individual components will be delivered through ground subleases with private developers.
According to Capstone, the housing is financed with non-recourse, tax-exempt bonds. Provident Resources Group is the nonprofit owner, and Capstone Management Partners will handle operations and maintenance. The commercial pieces will use traditional debt and equity.
The rest of the team:
Baker Barrios Architects: planner and architect
CBI Construction: design-builder for the housing
Kimley-Horn: civil engineer
Ellison Development: master plan developer
"Breaking ground on Uptown Landing is the beginning of a transformative investment in the future of USF," said Walker May, Capstone's executive vice president of P3 development.
Public money and approvals
The project went through three approvals before construction started:
USF Board of Trustees: approved the plan in September 2025
Florida Board of Governors: approved it on November 6, 2025. Board member Eric Silagy called it "a model of exactly how P3 should be going forward."
Hillsborough County Commission: voted unanimously on March 4, 2026, to commit $24 million
The county money comes from the Community Investment Tax, Hillsborough's half-cent sales tax. It pays for turn lanes, traffic and public safety improvements, and about $10 million for a pedestrian bridge over Fletcher Avenue. The bridge will connect the district to the stadium.
"USF is one of the county's largest and most important economic engines with over 16,000 employees generating $6.6 billion in income to the Tampa Bay region's economy," said Commission Chairman Ken Hagan, who called the investment "appropriate and prudent," according to the Business Observer.
The state is also putting money toward the research building and nearby campus infrastructure.
From golf course to game day
The Claw opened in 1967. It was a 120-acre, 18-hole, par-71 course designed by William F. Mitchell and sat between the USF Forest Preserve and Fletcher Avenue.
Then-President Rhea Law announced in June 2023 that the course would close. The university cited about $200,000 a year in maintenance losses, an aging clubhouse and cart buildings, and the fact that USF's golf teams no longer used it. The last round was played September 4, 2023, after 56 years.
USF now counts about 138 acres in the full redevelopment area. Phase one uses roughly 30, and the rest is available for future phases. The adjacent USF Forest Preserve will not be developed.
"This golf course no longer represented the greatness of the University of South Florida," Board of Trustees Chair Mike Griffin said at the groundbreaking, according to WUSF.
The stadium and the Uptown corridor
Uptown Landing's timing depends on the stadium across Fletcher Avenue. The $348.5 million, 35,000-seat stadium is under construction and set to open in fall 2027. It will be the first time the Bulls play home football on campus, after about three decades at Raymond James Stadium.
The developers are pitching the district as a game-day destination that also works year-round. "Uptown Landing will elevate the gameday atmosphere and serve as a 365-day-a-year amenity," said Delo Baker of Aureate Development.
The name is a deliberate nod to Uptown, the branding for the North Tampa innovation district centered on Fowler Avenue. Fowler runs along USF's southern edge, where the former MOSI site is moving through a land use change for mid-rise mixed-use buildings and a hotel. Uptown Landing gives the district a second anchor on the university's northern edge.
"Uptown is a name this district has earned through decades of research, innovation, jobs and investment. We're not creating an identity here. We're helping write its next chapter," Limayem said, according to The Oracle.
What comes next
Here is the timeline from here:
Fall 2027: the stadium opens, which means at least one football season with Uptown Landing still under construction across the street
Fall 2028: phase one opens
Still to be announced:
The hotel brand and operator
Restaurant and retail tenants
The construction schedule for the pedestrian bridge
The scope of any later phases on the remaining acreage
The University of South Florida broke ground September 8 on the first phase of a nearly $500 million mixed-use district on the site of its former Claw golf course. At the same ceremony, it retired the project's working name: the development long known as the Fletcher District is now Uptown Landing.
Phase one covers roughly 30 acres north of Fletcher Avenue and east of North 46th Street. That puts it within walking distance of USF's $348.5 million on-campus football stadium, which is scheduled to open for the 2027 season. Uptown Landing's first phase is expected to open in time for the fall 2028 semester.
USF calls the agreement the largest public-private partnership in the history of Florida's State University System.
"Uptown Landing is much more than a new neighborhood. This will be a destination anchored by USF, but created for the entire community," USF President Moez Limayem said in the university's announcement.
What's in phase one
According to USF's project FAQ, the first phase includes:
Student housing: about 700 beds in roughly 350,000 square feet
Affiliate housing: about 150 apartments for graduate students and university employees, totaling roughly 190,000 square feet
Retail and dining: about 60,000 square feet, including four to six restaurants
Hotel and conference center: 150 rooms with about 5,000 square feet of conference space
Academic research building: roughly 350,000 square feet
Green and recreation space throughout the district
The research building will house USF's Translational Research Institute. The university says it is designed for about 100 NIH-funded investigators and roughly 1,000 more researchers. It is the single largest piece of the project, at about $225 million.
Capstone Development Partners' groundbreaking release gives slightly higher numbers for some pieces: 717 student beds, 152 apartments and 68,000 square feet of food-and-beverage-focused retail.
How the deal is structured
The roughly $500 million total breaks into two parts. About $270 million covers the privately developed P3 components: housing, hotel and retail. About $225 million goes to the research building.
USF keeps ownership of the land. The master developer is ACE Fletcher LLC, a partnership of Capstone Development Partners, Aureate Development and Ellison Development. USF and some outlets also list Capstone Communities. Individual components will be delivered through ground subleases with private developers.
According to Capstone, the housing is financed with non-recourse, tax-exempt bonds. Provident Resources Group is the nonprofit owner, and Capstone Management Partners will handle operations and maintenance. The commercial pieces will use traditional debt and equity.
The rest of the team:
Baker Barrios Architects: planner and architect
CBI Construction: design-builder for the housing
Kimley-Horn: civil engineer
Ellison Development: master plan developer
"Breaking ground on Uptown Landing is the beginning of a transformative investment in the future of USF," said Walker May, Capstone's executive vice president of P3 development.
Public money and approvals
The project went through three approvals before construction started:
USF Board of Trustees: approved the plan in September 2025
Florida Board of Governors: approved it on November 6, 2025. Board member Eric Silagy called it "a model of exactly how P3 should be going forward."
Hillsborough County Commission: voted unanimously on March 4, 2026, to commit $24 million
The county money comes from the Community Investment Tax, Hillsborough's half-cent sales tax. It pays for turn lanes, traffic and public safety improvements, and about $10 million for a pedestrian bridge over Fletcher Avenue. The bridge will connect the district to the stadium.
"USF is one of the county's largest and most important economic engines with over 16,000 employees generating $6.6 billion in income to the Tampa Bay region's economy," said Commission Chairman Ken Hagan, who called the investment "appropriate and prudent," according to the Business Observer.
The state is also putting money toward the research building and nearby campus infrastructure.
From golf course to game day
The Claw opened in 1967. It was a 120-acre, 18-hole, par-71 course designed by William F. Mitchell and sat between the USF Forest Preserve and Fletcher Avenue.
Then-President Rhea Law announced in June 2023 that the course would close. The university cited about $200,000 a year in maintenance losses, an aging clubhouse and cart buildings, and the fact that USF's golf teams no longer used it. The last round was played September 4, 2023, after 56 years.
USF now counts about 138 acres in the full redevelopment area. Phase one uses roughly 30, and the rest is available for future phases. The adjacent USF Forest Preserve will not be developed.
"This golf course no longer represented the greatness of the University of South Florida," Board of Trustees Chair Mike Griffin said at the groundbreaking, according to WUSF.
The stadium and the Uptown corridor
Uptown Landing's timing depends on the stadium across Fletcher Avenue. The $348.5 million, 35,000-seat stadium is under construction and set to open in fall 2027. It will be the first time the Bulls play home football on campus, after about three decades at Raymond James Stadium.
The developers are pitching the district as a game-day destination that also works year-round. "Uptown Landing will elevate the gameday atmosphere and serve as a 365-day-a-year amenity," said Delo Baker of Aureate Development.
The name is a deliberate nod to Uptown, the branding for the North Tampa innovation district centered on Fowler Avenue. Fowler runs along USF's southern edge, where the former MOSI site is moving through a land use change for mid-rise mixed-use buildings and a hotel. Uptown Landing gives the district a second anchor on the university's northern edge.
"Uptown is a name this district has earned through decades of research, innovation, jobs and investment. We're not creating an identity here. We're helping write its next chapter," Limayem said, according to The Oracle.
What comes next
Here is the timeline from here:
Fall 2027: the stadium opens, which means at least one football season with Uptown Landing still under construction across the street
Fall 2028: phase one opens
Still to be announced:
The hotel brand and operator
Restaurant and retail tenants
The construction schedule for the pedestrian bridge
The scope of any later phases on the remaining acreage
