The latest piece of the Westside’s ongoing revitalization isn’t some run-of-the-mill mixed-use development à la the Avalon. This project comes with an educational element.

On Lee Street, just north of Interstate 20 in West End, a $52 million expansion of the Morehouse School of Medicine officially broke ground on Friday, with plans for student housing, retail offerings, and an ambulatory health center.

Last year, the Morehouse School of Medicine teamed up with Carter and Oakwood Development to launch the endeavor, and construction is anticipated to wrap up just in time for the 2020 school year.

The student housing aspect of the development is slated to come by way of 187 studios, one- and two-bedroom apartments for the Atlanta University Center students—the first-ever student housing for MSM students.

When the plan was announced in November 2017, MSM President and Dean Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice said the apartments would likely be priced at the market rate.

“We’ve looked at what our students are typically paying, but we also want it to be apartments anyone would want to live in — high quality with smart technology,” she said.

The expansion is also expected to bring a 9,000-square-foot fitness center, 2,500 square feet of retail space, and a 25,000-square-foot ambulatory health facility.

Rice said in a recent statement this new development will help keep some of the future leaders of the healthcare industry in Georgia.

“For more than five years, about 65 percent of our resident graduates have elected to practice in Georgia, showing their commitment to our vision and the improvement of healthcare in our state,” she said. “We are confident this new development will serve as a vibrant living and learning community that will attract and retain, particularly, students and our graduates to come and remain in Georgia.”

Although the 7.2-acre project site is also supposed to host four levels of parking spots, the location sits just a stone’s throw from the West End MARTA station—and its new soccer fields—and about a 10-minute bike ride from the Beltline’s Westside Trail.