A week before groundbreaking begins, the University of Minnesota has given final approval to plans for a $160 million outpatient clinic and surgery center on the Minneapolis campus.

On Friday, the Board of Regents formally approved the agreement to lease the new facility to a joint venture by university physicians and Fairview Health Services, which owns the university hospital.

Officials say the new center will replace a patchwork of outdated clinics on campus with a state-of-the-art facility that will include specialty clinics and outpatient surgery.

The project, which will be built near the Huron Boulevard exit of Interstate 94, was announced in May 2012. Groundbreaking is scheduled next week, and the center is scheduled to open in January 2016.

Maura Lerner