Northern Kentucky University's front door is getting a makeover.

The university announced details Monday for a new mixed-use development and a St. Elizabeth Healthcare office being built in partnership with Fairmount Properties.

The “town center” is expected to feature new restaurants, retail space, market-rate apartments, a hotel, structured parking and public gathering spaces. It will be built along U.S. 27 and the south side of Nunn Drive. There's no expected date of completion, but a groundbreaking for the initial phase of the development is expected in mid-2018.

The new entrance to campus is designed to bring students walkable amenities and enhance the Highland Heights community. The residential units are being designed to appeal to area professionals, medical and graduate students as well as NKU faculty and staff.

“This development will energize the entrance to the university and transform it into a regional gathering place for both the campus and the community," Gerry St. Amand, NKU interim president, said in a news release. "We want this town center to serve as a bridge with Highland Heights by creating a walkable retail and commercial center that everyone can enjoy.”

St. Elizabeth Healthcare will be across the street in a 70,000-square-foot professional office building.

The medical office fills a considerable need for health care support and care within the community, the release said. St. Elizabeth plans to offer urgent care, primary care and specialty physicians in that space, though the details of the services that will be offered have not been finalized. OrthoCincy will be leasing a portion of the building for an onsite orthopedic office, physical therapy and other emergent orthopedic services.

"As northern Kentucky continues to grow in both residential and student population, the need for additional health services will grow along with it," Garren Colvin, St. Elizabeth Healthcare President and CEO, said in the release. "This exciting development is just one more step in St. Elizabeth’s partnership with NKU to make northern Kentucky one of the healthiest communities in the country.”

It's clear St. Elizabeth Healthcare is working to grow its footprint in Greater Cincinnati.

Earlier this year, St. Elizabeth Healthcare and the University of Kentucky announced they will open a regional medical school in 2019 at NKU. The school will focus on training in primary care to turn out graduates who could ease the commonwealth’s chronic shortage of physicians.

The university is also building a $97 million Health Innovation Center on campus, with at least $8 million from St. Elizabeth. The facility is scheduled to open in 2018. NKU and St. Elizabeth officials have said the facility will one day turn out dozens more nurses, respiratory therapists, wellness experts, public health specialists and other health-care providers.

The development team is led by led by Fairmount Properties, a firm that specializes in creating high-quality, mixed-use “campus edge” developments across the country. The team has been working in partnership with NKU, the city of Highland Heights, Campbell County, St. Elizabeth and others throughout the community on these plans since September 2016.

Highland Heights Mayor Greg Meyers said the release that the town center project aligns with the city’s comprehensive plan and knowing that this development fits with the city’s land use goals helps to ease some minds in the community.

“Encouraging more mixed-use development and integrating our planning, policy and zoning efforts with NKU are goals we identified in our comprehensive plan," Meyers said. "This development fits directly with what the city deemed to be important factors in shaping our future."