Regis University’s property in northwest Denver features a grassy quad and stately brick academic buildings and dorms.
East of that, along Federal Boulevard, it also includes a few stand-alone fast-food joints, hundreds of parking spaces and an unspectacular strip mall.
The latter is being eyed for improvement.
“We envision a space that is mutually beneficial to the local community and the university community,” said the Rev. D. Scott Hendrickson.
The private Catholic school founded in 1877 owns about 85 acres north of Regis Boulevard between Federal and Lowell boulevards. The core campus comprises about 60 acres on the west side. The nearly 25 acres on the east, also home to a couple athletic fields, are proposed to be redeveloped into a project dubbed “Regis Village.”
Hendrickson, the school’s recently installed interim president, told BusinessDen that the project is about seeing “how the Federal Boulevard area can become more of a front door” to the university.
Documents submitted by the school to Denver say Regis Village and the main campus would “function as two separate, but interconnected developments, with each serving and supporting the uses of the other.”
Regis Village is proposed to include a mix of uses, including office, multifamily and commercial space, according to plans. A grid of private streets would be installed.
Regis has asked Denver for new custom zoning for the redevelopment site, which would allow for buildings up to five stories along Federal and up to three stories closer to the main campus. That doesn’t account for city incentives that sometimes allow additional height.
The newly built townhomes and apartments wouldn’t be reserved for students. Instead, the plan is to incorporate housing for seniors and income-restricted units.
“We have adequate housing on our campus right now,” Hendrickson said.
Plans for Regis Village included in a “large development review” document submitted to Denver. (Public records)
The zoning would allow for hospital use as well, which Hendrickson said could allow for additional opportunities for Regis students studying health care. It would not allow drive-thrus. Parking garages would support both the new development and the main Regis campus.
The project has been discussed for years. Cory Rutz, an Otten Johnson attorney working on the rezoning for Regis, said a master planning process wrapped up before the pandemic. A community meeting was held in 2022, and the past few years have seen presentations to neighborhood groups and on Regis tables at public events.
Now, the hope is that the City Council will sign off on the necessary rezoning by the end of the year.
Regis University had just over 5,750 students in the 2023-2024 academic year, according to its website, although only 1,625 were full-time on-campus undergraduates. The remainder were graduate students or took online or evening classes.
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