DETROIT -- The University of Detroit Mercy plans to build a $100 million law school, library, up to 200 residences and a parking deck with ground-floor retail space next to its downtown campus.

The project, to be completed in the next five to seven years, is being driven by rising enrollment, the addition of major companies downtown such as General Motors Corp., Compuware Corp. and EDS Corp., and the recent completion of a university fund-raising drive.

The five-year campaign brought in $101 million, said Adrian V. Kerrigan, UDM's vice president of university advancement. The existing law school, at East Jefferson near the Renaissance Center, has a current enrollment of 550 students, up 15 percent from a year ago.

"When we started looking at expanding our law school (in 2001), we saw a need to add more housing downtown that would help enrich the lives of our students, faculty and surrounding community," Kerrigan said. "We also want to remind people we're here, and we're growing."

Other law schools have recently completed expansion programs.

Wayne State University finished a $17.1 million renovation and expansion of its law school in 2001, spokesman Tom Sakely said. While enrollment held steady at about 840 students last year, Sakely said applications rose 12 percent. Enrollment for the current law school class was not available.

UDM is looking at various options for its expansion, including building a two-story law school on top of a new five-level to nine-level parking deck north of the campus. UDM owns a surface parking lot across Larned from the law school.

About 10-12 residential floors could be built above the law school and deck, meaning the university could build a 20-story tower with views of the Detroit River and Canada.

"At the current School of Law, we do plan to renovate the building into 30 condominiums," said Steve Vogel, dean of the university's School of Architecture. "We're still looking at how we're going to put things together."

Other construction options include adding a parking deck and law school while placing up to 200 residences inside and above the current law school, Vogel said.

"We have about five acres downtown, so we have some options," he said.

George W. Jackson Jr., president and chief executive of Detroit Economic Growth Corp., a quasi-public development agency, said the university has talked to the city about the project.

One possibility entails the university sharing the new deck with EDS employees, he said.

By the end of the year, EDS is scheduled to complete the move of 1,500 workers from southeastern Michigan to the 500 Tower at the RenCen.

Jackson said new and renovated residential lofts and condominiums have been selling or leasing at a brisk pace over the last three years.

"With the addition of Ford Field, Comerica Park, Detroit Opera House and new businesses, people are finding it convenient to live and work downtown," Jackson said.

In addition to its downtown campus, UDM plans to enhance its main campus at McNichols and Livernois, Kerrigan said.

"We want to renovate our student dorms and add new housing on and near our main campus," he said. "We'd like to see more shopping around the campus as well."

Kerrigan said the main campus would be updated in stages over the next 17 years. The university, which has 6,000 students overall, also operates a campus at Outer Drive and the Southfield Freeway. There are no current plans to update that campus, Kerrigan said.