Signet Holds Groundbreaking for Student Housing Project

GAINESVILLE, FL—Signet Development of Jacksonville, FL held a ceremonial groundbreaking ceremony for its $23-million Infinity Hall, a live, learn student housing project, at the University of Florida here.

The five-story, 97,000 square-foot 312-bed living learning center is being designed by Perkins + Will of Atlanta, GA, and built by general contractor Brasfield & Gorrie of Jacksonville. Construction started in March 2014, and it is scheduled to house students beginning in the fall semester of 2015.

In addition to residential space, Infinity Hall will have collaboration space and teaming areas that are designed to promote idea generation and creativity, Signet officials say. The ground floor of the building will be dedicated to living-learning areas, and will be open to all students as an additional amenity. Those spaces will be flexible, and can be modified for students of all disciplines. Infinity Hall is also located directly across the street from the Florida Innovation Hub business incubator, which will further integrate UF students and the business community.

"Infinity Hall is the first private sector finance project to arise from the vision of public-private partnership that defines Innovation Square," says UF President Bernie Machen. "We achieved this milestone in concert with the developer, builder and owner, Signet Enterprises. Infinity Hall is the first residence hall in Gainesville—and among only a handful in the nation—designed for young entrepreneurs who mean so much to our future as a community and as a country."

Infinity Hall is the first privatized partnership within Innovation Square, the university's 40-acre innovation district that is being developed as a sustainable live, work and play community. The district is designed to fuse the private sector with the university.