Pasco County, Fla. (January 26, 2017) – Metro Development Group, a key developer and visionary behind the Connected City in Pasco County, is announcing a partnership with Saint Leo University to bring a state-of-the-art education center to the area. Using the Connected City’s gigabit fiber network for ultra-fast internet access, the planned facility promises to bring exciting advances in higher education.
The technology-rich center will allow students to complete specialized courses online from gigabit-connected classrooms and computer labs in other parts of the country and across the world. This high level of connectivity will bring an unmatched education experience to Pasco County and enable professors from all over the world to teach classes remotely through a high-resolution, uninterrupted video connection.
The gigabit technology will further enhance the learning experience for students taking business, computer science and cybersecurity courses at the campus, and will also allow Pasco-based Saint Leo professors to teach students across the globe.
Saint Leo University, a private liberal arts university based in the Tampa Bay area, offers traditional on-campus learning at more than 40 teaching locations in seven states, and has more than 50 highly regarded online degree programs. As a leading provider of educational services to the U.S. military, Saint Leo University has helped thousands of active-duty military personnel, veterans, and their families advance their education through flexible, accredited online degree programs, and at education centers and military bases.
“Saint Leo University is excited to partner with Metro Development Group and the Connected City for the opportunity to offer education degree programs in a technology-focused environment,” said Dr. Ed Dadez, Vice President of Student Affairs and Campus Operations. “Once the education center is completed, we will be prepared to offer both on-ground and online courses. We believe that the partnership between Metro Development Group and Saint Leo University will be beneficial for the businesses and residents of the Connected City and our county.”
In addition to Saint Leo University, the education facility will also house several other forward-thinking universities that will benefit from the Connected City’s advanced technology.
The Connected City’s gigabit fiber technology, called ULTRAFi, is an exclusive service developed by Tampa-based Metro Development Group. The technology – which offers internet speeds up to 100 times faster than today’s average speeds – will serve as the foundation not only for the education center, but also for the entire 7,800-acre area.
“The Connected City’s advanced technology will give Saint Leo University the ability to offer an education experience unlike anything this region has seen before,” said Kartik Goyani, Vice President of Operations with Metro Development Group and the visionary behind the Connected City. “Saint Leo is an outstanding organization, and we are very excited for the game-changing advances this partnership will bring to student learning.”
As the first Smart Gigabit Community in the United States to be built from the ground up, the Connected City is bringing the digital and physical worlds together. The Connected City will be developed over a 50-year plan, and upon completion the community is anticipated to have more than 35,000 homes and 12 million square feet of office, retail, medical and technology-related facilities. It will also feature the nation’s first Crystal Lagoon, which has already broken ground and will be complete in late 2017.
The Connected City is located in Wesley Chapel, Florida, and is bordered by SR 52 to the north, SR 54 to the south, I-75 to the west, and Curley Road to the east.
About Metro Development Group
A Tampa-based company founded in 2003, Metro Development Group is committed to bringing some of the most innovative technologies and amenities to homebuilders and homebuyers. With the introduction of the Connected City, Metro Places, ULTRAFi and Metro Lagoons by Crystal Lagoons, Metro continues to be the gold standard in the development of master planned communities. For more information, visit www.MetroDevelopmentGroup.com.
About Saint Leo University
Saint Leo University (www.saintleo.edu) is a modern Catholic teaching university that is firmly grounded in the liberal arts tradition and the timeless Benedictine wisdom that seeks balanced growth of mind, body, and spirit. The Saint Leo University of today is a private, nonprofit institution that creates hospitable learning communities wherever our students want to be or need to be, whether that is a campus classroom, a web-based environment, an employer’s worksite, a military base, or an office park. We welcome people of all faiths and of no religious affiliation, and encourage learners of all generations. We are committed to providing educational opportunities to our nation’s armed forces, our veterans, and their families. We are regionally accredited to award degrees ranging from the associate to the doctorate, and we guide all our students to develop their capacities for critical thinking, moral reflection, and lifelong learning and leadership.
We remain the faithful stewards of the beautiful lakeside University Campus in the Tampa Bay region of Florida, where our founding monks created the first Catholic college in the state in 1889. Serving nearly 15,000 students, we have expanded to downtown Tampa, to other sites in Florida and beyond, and maintain a physical presence in seven states. We provide highly respected online learning programs to students nationally and internationally. More than 82,000 alumni reside in all 50 states, in Washington, DC, in three U.S. territories, and in 76 countries.