Nottingham Trent University's £8 million enterprise centre will have a "positive impact" on the city's economy, according to the team behind the development.
Work has now started on the four-storey Enterprise and Innovation Centre which will offer support and guidance to start-up firms coming out of the university and provide services to other businesses.
The official groundbreaking ceremony for the project has now taken place and it is anticipated it could be ready for students in late 2020.
Ian Taylor, director of Henry Brothers Midlands , said: "This is our third construction project for the University, and we are delighted to have now broken ground at the site and started work on Nottingham Trent University’s latest development at its City Campus.
"The Enterprise and Innovation Centre will have a positive impact not just at the university, but also on the wider economy of Nottingham and the East Midlands and it’s great to play a part in creating such a facility."
Mike Carr, executive dean of enterprise and head of the innovation centre, added: "What the Enterprise and Innovation Centre gives us is the focal point for our work with enterprising start-ups and established businesses as well as being somewhere a community of entrepreneurial people can come together to exchange knowledge and ideas."
The new centre, which will be linked to the university's existing Dryden centre, will also be used to commercialise research and advise on intellectual property.
It will become the new home of The Hive, currently based in the university's Maudslay Building, which offers mentoring, support, training and networking opportunities for students, graduates, staff and entrepreneurs.
