COVINGTON, Ky. — Community members gathered to celebrate the groundbreaking of the Commonwealth Center for Biomedical Excellence, a transformative project that will unite legal and medical education, research and entrepreneurship in the heart of Northern Kentucky.

The $125 million facility, located at 11 E. RiverCenter Blvd. in downtown Covington, will become the future home of Northern Kentucky University's Salmon P. Chase College of Law and the University of Kentucky College of Medicine-Northern Kentucky campus. Ground was broken Thursday on the new center, with construction expected to be completed by the end of 2028.

The project represents a unique partnership among higher education institutions and local government aimed at strengthening Kentucky's health care workforce and expanding graduate educational opportunities. The center will see the relocation of Chase Law School and the NKU branch of the UK College of Medicine to Covington, where Chase operated from 1972 to 1981. The law school's return will bring more than 500 graduate students, faculty and staff to the city.

The new facility will also provide significant expansion capacity for the UK College of Medicine. The Northern Kentucky campus will be able to grow its enrollment by 40 percent, providing additional capacity to train future physicians in a region facing healthcare workforce shortages.

Christine Russell, executive director of the Northern Kentucky Port Authority, said the project transforms the site from a parking lot into "a world-class facility for the NKU Salmon P. Chase College of Law and University of Kentucky Medical School–Northern Kentucky campus."

Pepper Construction and MSA Design were selected in March to serve as the design-build team for the project, which also includes SLAM, THP Limited, Heapy, The Kleingers Group and Design 27. The project was funded by the Kentucky General Assembly in 2024. The center is owned by the Northern Kentucky Port Authority and is being built on a parking lot the authority bought from the Butler Foundation.

Although the project has garnered some criticism, leaders at the event were generally optimistic. Local officials emphasized the center's potential to strengthen Northern Kentucky's position as a hub for innovation, education and economic opportunity while providing the next generation of doctors and lawyers who will serve communities across the Commonwealth.