The UNC School of Law plans to relocate to Carolina North by fall 2012, Jack Boger, dean of the law school, announced Friday.

The decision to leave main campus came after architectural reports by the SmithGroup concluded that construction of a new building to facilitate growth within the law school would be more practical than expanding and renovating the building that currently houses the school.

Preliminary reports showed that construction of a new building would cost about $93 million, and the school could add to a new building over the next several decades if necessary. Expansion and renovation of the school’s current home would cost about $91 million and leave no room for expansion in the future. Additionally, a new building could be ready to occupy by 2012, but renovations could take more than a decade to complete.

If the school does relocate to Carolina North, it will be the first school or department to do so.