The three story Mediterranean Style Rotunda will become the identifying landmark of the USF Sarasota-Manatee Campus. The Rotunda will serve as the main gathering place for interaction between student, faculty, and administration. The Rotunda has been sited to frame views through the building's interior outward toward the campus "piazza" - that will tie the current building and Phase II buildings together into a tight compact pedestrian campus. The paths will also extend to a serpentine walking trail through existing preserved woodlands with views and glimpses of the campus water feature (detention pond) and Crosley Mansion. The existing historic vista and drive to the Crosley Mansion will be preserved and additionally reinforced with additional landscaping maintaining its identity and coastal estate character.

The Phase I facility design and scale reflect consideration to and compliment the architectural design of the Crosley Mansion and the Mediterranean Style Architecture of the Sarasota community. The new 96,460sf Instructional Facility Building will accommodate various size flexible classrooms with state of the art classroom technology, seminar rooms, video conferencing rooms, computer lab/training room, and 150 seat lecture hall for academic studies. The facility will also house Campus Administration, Student Services, Administration, Faculty, Computing Technology office space, Daycare, and Student Food Service and Athletic facilities.