Firm to build new charter school near airport with focus on aeronautical industry

SARASOTA — Lakewood Ranch-based commercial construction firm Halfacre Construction Co. will build a new Team Success Charter School near the Sarasota Bradenton International Airport.

In partnership with the Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority, Team Success Charter School’s airport campus will follow a standard school curriculum with a special focus on the aeronautical industry and potential career opportunities in the field, according to a press release. 

It will be the public charter school’s second Manatee County location. The school will serve about 750 middle and high school students.

The new school is planned for a vacant 15-acre parcel owned by Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority at 8237 15th St. E. on the east side of 15th Street. 

Halfacre Construction will act as the construction manager, with Sage Development acting as the project developer representing Team Success Charter School. Fawley Bryant Architecture is the architectural consultant for the project.

The commercial construction team will build the 46,000-square-foot facility, including an administration building, a 12,000-square-foot cafeteria, three classroom buildings totaling 36 classrooms and two faculty restrooms.

Halfacre will also complete site work, such as concrete sidewalks, canopies, soccer fields and outdoor learning and play areas. With the exception of the cafeteria building, all other structures will be constructed out of repurposed shipping containers from modular builder Innovar Structures. The company has a factory in Wauchula and is based in Sarasota. 

“Over a year ago, we began this project with conceptual thoughts of the partnership we could create with the Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority on an aviation-themed school,” says Mike Dixon, owner of Sage Development. “Currently, Team Success Charter School provides an excellent education to a student body that is almost 100 percent minority population. We think this program and its facilities could be a model for the rest of the country in providing opportunities to disadvantaged kids in a well-paying field that otherwise they may not have been exposed to. I’m very excited to be involved in this project with such a committed team.”

The first phase of construction on the approximately $11 million project is expected to begin in spring 2021. Officials say the estimated completion date is before the start of the 2021-22 school year. A second phase to add an extra 34,000 square feet of facilities and accommodate 750 more students is expected to take place in the next three to five years.

The school’s original campus is at 202 13th Ave. E. in Bradenton. The Title I school serves approximately 1,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade.