University of Florida Commences 2,200-Bed Redevelopment
The community will add 10,000 beds to the campus in the next decade.
Balfour Beatty’s Campus Solutions and U.S. Buildings operations have partnered with the University of Florida for a multi-phase redevelopment effort at the school’s Gainesville, Fla. campus. The project will deliver 2,217 beds across four residential buildings.
Construction has begun on the new buildings, with two expected to open in fall 2028 and the other two to open in late fall 2028.
According to prepared remarks from UF Board of Trustees Chair Mori Hosseini, the redevelopment represents the first phase of a 10-year, more than $2 billion initiative to add 10,000 beds across campus.
University planning documents show the project is intended to help address a waiting list of more than 1,000 students while replacing the 622 beds lost when the residence halls were demolished.
Phase one will redevelop the former Trusler, Simpson and Graham residence halls, which were originally built as on-campus housing more than 60 years ago. In June 2025, the university demolished the old buildings for the new development.
The new student housing community will encompass 680,000 square feet across the four buildings with shared amenities such as kitchens, multipurpose event space, study rooms, social gathering areas and floor-level laundry rooms.
In addition, construction of Phase one will bring an 18,000-square-foot Disability Resource Center, a café, Amazon Market and a package distribution center for on-campus residents.
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BBCS is acting as the developer on the project, with the company’s U.S. Buildings operations leading the design-build and delivery in a 65:35 joint venture with Stellar Group. Other project partners include architecture firms Clark Nexsen and Walker Architects. Rieth Jones Advisors served as adviser to the university.
According to Yardi Matrix, the University of Florida enrolled 63,151 students in fall 2025, including 57,368 on-site students. The university had dorm capacity for 11,668 beds during the 2024-2025 academic year, the same source shows.
Student housing investment continues
The University of Florida redevelopment comes amid continued investment in student housing across the state. Last week, Beachwold Residential received $176.6 million from Affinius Capital for The Place at Alafaya, a two-phase, 1,395-bed student housing project in Orlando, Fla., representing the largest private construction loan in the area’s history. The community will serve students attending the University of Central Florida.
For Balfour Beatty, the project continues a series of higher education assignments. In 2023, BBCS was brought on to develop a 1,200-bed, on-campus project at William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va. The project was a $240 million investment.
Separately, Balfour Beatty Communities expanded its student housing portfolio in June through the acquisition of Clemson Village, a 288-bed community serving Clemson University.
