The University of South Florida has selected the team from Manhattan Construction Co., HJ Russell & Co. and DuCon, LLC as construction manager for the school’s new football stadium on its Tampa campus.
The move gets the campus facility, estimated to cost $340 million, back on track after the university reversed course last December on its project delivery approach, ending an agreement for a year with a design and construction team led by Barton-Malow aiming to have the stadium ready by 2026, a goal deemed unfeasible due to “significant global supply chain issues,” according to a statement from Barton Malow.
With Populous Architects, a subcontractor to the original design team, remaining as the stadium’s lead designer, USF said in December that moving to a construction manager approach would provide the university with “more direct access to all design elements… and more. control over cost efficiency.” It will also provide schedule flexibility to ensure the new stadium and its supporting services are fully operational in time for the 2027 college football season.
Based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Manhattan Construction Co. currently ranked 70th among ENR’s top 400 contractors. HJ Russell & Co. is headquartered in Atlanta, while DuCon LLC is located in Sarasota, Florida.
Austin Commercial LP and MA Mortenson Company also submitted bids for the project.
“Choosing a construction leadership team is a big step forward in our process to deliver a world-class stadium that will transform the future of our university and the campus experience,” said Vice President of Athletics USF Michael Kelly and USF Foundation CEO Jay Stroman. , the co-chairs of the stadium planning committee.
The stadium, located in the university’s Sycamore Fields intramural sports area, is currently envisioned as a 615,000-square-foot, 35,000-seat facility that will host both USF’s football and women’s lacrosse teams, and it will host concerts, graduation ceremonies and other events. According to USF, the stadium’s east-west orientation will help maximize shade for daytime events, with an open concourse providing views of the field. Suites, check-in boxes and club seating areas will be available, while students will occupy a dedicated section in the west end zone. A large tailgating space has also been planned on the north side of the stadium.
The stadium’s grand opening ceremony is scheduled for homecoming week in October.
Adjacent to the stadium, USF is building the Tampa General Hospital (TGH) Center of Athletic Excellence, a new operations center that will offer state-of-the-art locker rooms, medical spaces and sports treatments , strength and conditioning rooms, trainers. offices, training rooms, nutrition spaces and hydrotherapy pools. According to the school, the facility will also include clinical space where TGH will offer a variety of behavioral health services to support the needs of both the USF community and the greater Tampa Bay region.
