University of South Florida may have lost one branch, but that isn’t slowing growth beyond the main campus.

A little more than three months since Gov. Rick Scott signed into law the Sen. JD Alexander-backed effort to cast USF-Polytechnic into the independent Florida Polytechnic University, USF Sarasota-Manatee leaders have announced their own ambitious expansion plans.

On Wednesday, leaders from USF Sarasota-Manatee unveiled a five-year plan intended to double enrollment through construction of a new $25 million academic center, along with student housing, retail catering to students and a boathouse for a rowing team.

“We're going to transform Sarasota and Manatee counties with everything that is going on,” Arthur Guilford, USF Sarasota-Manatee's regional chancellor, told the Sarasota Herald Tribune. “We have a very ambitious growth plan.”

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