It has been more than two years since the project was officially announced but we have yet to see a sod turned on the campus, which has been billed as a cornerstone to a revitalised Launceston city.

Talks of an inner-city campus for UTAS in Launceston have been discussed since 2015.

There have been some bumps in the road to get to this point, so let's recap the history of the project.

Relocation of UTAS from Newnham to Inveresk was detailed at a launch event for the master plan.

The relocation formed part of what UTAS called the Northern Transformation plan, which involves the move of both the Launceston and Cradle Coast campuses.

At the time UTAS said the relocation would enable UTAS to process an extra 12,000 students over the next decade at both campuses.

RELATED STORY: A virtual view of UTAS campus plans

UTAS said the campus move would cost $260 million while Burnie would cost $40 million. The business proposal - in total - is pegged at $300 million.

Project funding partners - UTAS, the state government, Launceston City Council and Burnie City Council - have committed to contribute $150 million towards the total proposal.

It has called on the federal government to provide the other half of the funding.

The master plan for the University of Tasmania's city campus in Launceston was been released for public feedback.

Architects McBride Charles Ryan with project partners from the university, city council, and state and federal governments unveiled the blueprints for $260 million UTAS Inveresk relocation.

"It's a major step in Launceston's history and today is the day in which Launceston takes the first step towards becoming a university city," then-UTAS Vice Chancellor Peter Rathjen said.

RELATED STORY: Designs and plans for UTAS moving forward

A joint collaboration between the federal government, the state government and the City of Launceston council, then Assistant Cities Minister Angus Taylor travelled to Launceston to announce the City Deal.

The city deal is a unique plan that brings all levels of government together to focus on key strategies and infrastructure projects to revitalise and set the city up for prosperity in the future.

University of Tasmania's Inveresk campus, outlined as part of its bold Northern Transformation plan, was unveiled as the number one major project that the deal hinged on.

At the time, then-Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Mr Turnbull said the City Deal would maximise Launceston's potential through more than $280 million in investment.

RELATED: What did stakeholders have to say about the Launceston City Deal?

As the move gathered pace, UTAS acting vice-chancellor Mike Calford confirmed construction of stage one of the Inveresk campus could begin before the end of 2018.

Expressions of interest to select the managing architect for the project would begin "in a matter of days", he said at the time.

UTAS also said it hoped to have the first development application submitted to the City of Launceston Council by the middle of the year.

"Now that the funding is locked-in we can get going very quickly with some preliminary works," Professor Calford said.

"There is a need to know a bit more about the site, about the soil and about the underpinnings, so there will be some immediate work starting within a couple of weeks doing site testing ... we need to know whether there is any remediation or soil contamination that needs to be dealt with."

UTAS gave a development deadline of September 2018 when it began soil testing the Inveresk site.

Pro vice-chancellor David Adams said soil testing would determine if there were any significant issues with the ground that would impede construction.

The drill works that started were a key step towards the goal to begin construction of the University of Tasmania's new campus by the end of the year.

If all goes to plan the application could be submitted by "around September", UTAS pro-vice-chancellor Professor David Adams said.

The drilling were done to determine whether there were any significant issues with the ground.

RELATED STORY: Campus move the right one for UTAS: editorial

A consortium of architects from both Tasmania and Victoria were announced as final tender winners.

At the launch event, new UTAS vice-chancellor Rufus Black said designs could be revealed by the end of 2018 and work would begin almost immediately on the campus.

Victorian architect firm John Wardle will head a team of architects to bring the Northern Transformation project to life.

Tasmanian architects 1+2 Architecture, Room11 and Philp Lighton will make up the state component of the architectural consortium.

RELATED STORY: Launceston City Deal progress report delivered to Tasmanian Government

Professor Black said the appointment of the architects marked an exciting stage for the project as the promise of a transformative new presence for education in two of the state's northern cities begins to be realised.

"This is truly a partnership of great talents - Room11 and John Wardle Architects were the only Australian practices invited to exhibit at the International Architecture Biennale in Venice this year," Professor Black said.

"As a team, these architects bring world-leading skills and expertise and a local focus and shared passion for Tasmania."

RELATED: Meet the architects who will design the Inveresk campus

As the end of the year approached, it was revealed UTAS did not have a definite timeline for a development application for its Inveresk campus.

A UTAS spokesman said the DA had not yet been submitted, but a DA for West Park in Burnie would be lodged in the near future.

"Much is happening on the Northern Transformation Project as we work to ensure the proposal delivers its enormous promise for the North and North-West," the spokesman said.

Previously, the university has said the DA for Inveresk would be lodged to the City of Launceston council by the end of the year.

RELATED STORY: UTAS vice-chancellor Rufus Black outlines his vision for a university in North

After a hiatus on news for a few months, UTAS pro vice-chancellor David Adams announced some changes to the original timeline for Inveresk.

He said a development application will now likely be lodged in June 2019 and that instead of construction going ahead all at once, it would be a staged one.

"One of our major promises was to be able to maximise the economic benefits from this project for Tasmanian businesses," Professor Adams said.

However, he said if UTAS stayed within its existing deadlines and began construction on schedule at the end of the year there would not be enough construction workers and sub-contractors to fulfill that commitment.

He said the project would have to rely on mainland businesses and labour, which was not what UTAS wanted to see happen.

Because of that challenge, and others, Professor Adams said UTAS was now looking at a staged roll-out of construction.

RELATED STORY: UTAS to seek planning scheme amendment for Inveresk campus