USTA Will Combine Its New York and Boca Raton Operations in Orlando

The United States Tennis Association, in line for state and local incentives, plans to build a state-of-the-art facility at Lake Nona in Orlando that will consolidate divisions from New York and Boca Raton. Gov. Rick Scott and the non-profit USTA announced the $60 million, 63-acre, 106-court project today (May 14).

The “USTA’s expansion and creation of 154 new jobs will make Florida one of the top states for tennis in the nation, and this state-of-the-art facility will be the USTA’s first year-round outdoor facility,” Scott said in a release from the USTA. The USTA reportedly selected the Orlando site over other locations in Florida, North Carolina and the Southwest.

The facility is expected to open early in 2017. Once completed, the USTA’s Community Tennis division will be moved from the association’s national headquarters in White Plains, N.Y., while the player-development headquarters will move from Boca Raton to the new site. Orlando is providing road work and $200,000 in tax incentives, while the Tavistock Group, which developed Lake Nona, offered a 30-year, $1-a-year lease on the land, according to the Orlando Sentinel. While terms of the county and state incentives remain undisclosed, Florida is offering as part of the package performance-based partial reimbursement grants for employee training through the Quick Response Training program.–News Service of Florida