Officials at Grand Valley State University will ask the university’s Board of Trustees to approve a purchase of nearly 11 acres of land around the Cook-DeVos Center for Health Sciences in downtown Grand Rapids.

The Campus Development Fund will be used to finance the purchase, which is expected to cost $18.9 million, and tuition will not be affected.

“This is transformational for our university, for our region and for the future of health care in Michigan,” Thomas J. Haas, GVSU’s president, said in a statement. “This plan is part of our vision and long-term strategy as a key player in health education. We’re obligated to anticipate and produce the health care providers our state needs for the future.”

GVSU currently owns four acres of property on the north side of I-196 near the center, and the proposed purchase – between Hastings and Trowbridge streets and Clancy and College avenues – would increase the university’s total property to 18 acres.

The Board of Trustees will meet at noon tomorrow at GVSU’s Detroit Center. The meeting will be streamed live online at gvsu.edu/livestream/.