The project's ground-breaking, tentatively scheduled for next summer, will complement an innovative $60 million, private-public redevelopment program planned in the Parramore district, Downtown's poorest neighborhood. The venture anticipates triggering $1 billion in new surrounding commercial development over the next five years. The campus is expected to be completed and open to students by fall 2003.

Mayor Glenda E. Hood spearheaded the five-month effort and the $17 million economic incentives carrot offered to the university. In the end, the regents said Orlando's corporate support platform swayed them over Tampa, FL and Lakeland, FL, two cities that also campaigned vigorously for the development prize over the past five months. Among the project's backers are the Orlando Magic, Denny's restaurant chain, Coca-Cola Co., Avis Rent-a-Car and Delta Air Lines.

The law school will be built on a 3.8-acre Downtown site next to the planned new $60 million federal courthouse building on Hughey Avenue. Also planned in the one-square-mile Parramore district are a $25 million, 150,000-sf headquarters complex for publicly-traded Hughes Supply Co.; 254 apartment units; 25,000 sf of retail; and a 1,000-vehicle parking garage.