Pick of firms for South Florida varsity venue

Image: USF

The University of South Florida (Tampa, Florida, US) recently announced a significant development in the plans to build a new on-campus home for the South Florida Bulls football team.

‘usf.edu’ stated that following a competitive bid process, the University of South Florida has selected the highly experienced team of the Manhattan Construction Company, the H.J. Russell & Company and DuCon, LLC as the Construction Manager for the new stadium.

The University of South Florida is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida (US), and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida.

The South Florida Bulls football team represents the University of South Florida. The Bulls began playing in 1997 and compete in the American Athletic Conference (AAC) of the Football Bowl Subdivision within the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

The 75,000-capacity Raymond James Stadium is a multipurpose stadium in Tampa, Florida (US), which opened in 1998 and is home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL) and the University of South Florida Bulls college football program.

Indianapolis (US)-based the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States and one in Canada. It also organizes the athletic programs of the colleges and helps over 500,000 college student-athletes who compete annually in college sports.

Irving (US)-based the American Athletic Conference (AAC), also known as the American, is a collegiate athletic Conference in the United States featuring 14 full member-universities and eight affiliate member-universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) Division I, with its football teams competing in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).

The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly known as the Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association. As of the 2024 season, there are 10 Conferences and 134 schools in FBS.

Tulsa (US)-based the Manhattan Construction Company is a family-owned construction company that was founded in 1896 by L.H. Rooney in Oklahoma. It is now the flagship company of the Manhattan Construction Group, which is a privately-held construction services firm that provides general building, bridge, road, civil, pipeline, and specialty construction services.

The H.J. Russell & Company is a property management company that manages apartment units, condominiums and public housing. The company was founded in 1952 by Herman Russell, who led the company for 50 years until his son Michael Russell became the head honcho in 2003. The company is headquartered in Atlanta (US).

The DuCon, LLC is a construction management company based in Tampa, Florida (US) that specializes in design and engineering, project management, plumbing, and general construction management. The company has over 30 years of experience and has managed construction in three States. DuCon is recognized for its integrity, community impact and range of expertise.

‘usf.edu’ further stated that the selected team has worked extensively with the college and professional stadiums throughout the United States, numerous facilities in the Tampa Bay region and the State of Florida and has previously partnered on more than $1.2 billion in projects with the University of South Florida’s design team, the celebrated design firm Populous.

Noted Michael Kelly, University of South Florida Vice-President of Athletics and Jay Stroman, University of South Florida Foundation Chief Executive Officer (CEO), the Co-Chairs of the Stadium Planning Committee, “Choosing a construction management 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 on-campus experience. After conducting a thorough review of each proposal we received for the project, we’re excited to get started on our partnership with a team that brings a proven track record of success in the Manhattan Construction Company, the H.J. Russell & Company and DuCon, LLC.”

The projects the team has worked on include football stadiums for the National Football League (NFL) team Dallas Cowboys home ground – the 80,000-capacity AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas – the Texas A&M Aggies football (representing the Texas A&M University) home ground – the 102,733-capacity Kyle Field in College Station, Texas – the Texas Tech University football team – the Texas Tech Red Raiders football home ground – the 60,454-capacity Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas, and the ongoing renovations at the Florida State University (public university in Tallahassee, Florida). Manhattan also provided construction management services for enhancements to the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa in 2016.

The University of South Florida’s on-campus stadium is scheduled to open in time for Fall 2027.

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