Publix Super Markets Inc. won approval to build its first on-campus store at the University of South Florida in Tampa.
The Florida Board of Governors last week approved development of the 29,000-square-foot store on USF land at the intersection of Fletcher Avenue and North Palm Drive in Tampa.
Publix plans to sign a 21-year ground lease, with options for six five-year extensions, with the University of South Florida. Construction on the grocery store is expected to be finished by late 2017.
Judy Genshaft, USF system president, said in press release that when the university decided to replace a 1960s-vintage on-campus housing complex with a village-like development, the top request among students was for an on-campus grocery store.
The Publix grocery store will become an integral part of a $133 million development at USF called Student Housing Village. Its construction is expected to begin later this year.
USF is in a public-private partnership for the development of the Student Housing Village project with Capstone Development Partners LLC and Harrison Street Real Estate Capital. [Tampa Bay Business Journal] — Mike Seemuth