Davenport University plans to open a new satellite campus in Detroit's New Center One building in January in response to an opportunity the Grand Rapids-based business school sees in customizing college degrees and certificates for employers in the city.

The university has leased 12,000 square feet of first-floor retail space in the New Center One building at 3031 W. Grand Blvd. in the heart of New Center, where development activity has heated up in the past year. Davenport's space will include six classrooms, a computer lab and work and study areas and be built to serve more than 2,000 students per semester.

Davenport University, a private not-for-profit school of 7,500 students in multiple campuses across the state, plans initially to offer courses in Detroit for bachelor's and master's degrees as well as certificates in the fields of computer information systems, cybersecurity and health care.

"We think that there's a need for what we do and it's such a good match for what the city's experiencing with all of these jobs and the inability to fill them," Davenport University President Richard Pappas said Monday in an interview with Crain's.

Davenport officials have been talking to leaders at DTE Energy Co. and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan about customizing potential educational programs for the two major downtown Detroit employers, though no official partnerships have been formed, Pappas said.

Pappas planned to announce Davenport's arrival to Detroit at a midafternoon news conference Tuesday at the New Center One building with Mayor Mike Duggan.

Davenport University announced its plans to move into Detroit in August 2017, when it said it planned to relocate its Livonia location to the Midtown area.

In February, Davenport hired Duggan's chief governmental affairs officer, Lisa Howze, to be its new vice president for the metro Detroit region. Howze is a former state representative from Detroit and was Duggan's first chief of staff.