Regis Village Plans Include Housing, Retail on 27 Acres
By Eric Heinz
Planners working with Regis University are looking to help the school enhance its location along Federal Boulevard with new development.
Cody Teets, the interim president of Regis, said the university wants to develop the 27 acres it owns along Federal Boulevard into retail spaces, mixed-income housing, outdoor gathering spaces, and office space.
“This development will serve both our neighborhood’s needs and the needs of the university, providing an income stream and rentals and leases for the foreseeable future,” Teets said during an informational meeting in June. “We see the development serving as a catalyst for continued investment in the community.”
Regis is working with California-based MIG on designing the projects. Mark De La Torre, the project manager working with the university, said a focus on mobility throughout the large development will be critical in the designs.
“When we think about the great spaces of campuses, a lot of that’s focused on the spaces in between, and that’s certainly part of the conception of Regis village moving forward,” De La Torre said.
MIG conducted surveys from people in the area and students on campus about what they would like to see in the development.
“What we really heard was that Federal Boulevard was a barrier in a number of ways, both from a connectivity standpoint to just a perception of how Regis University or that edge presents itself to the larger community,” De La Torre said.
De La Torre said MIG and Regis will look at existing documents, Blueprint Denver, and the Federal Boulevard Improvement Plan to draw inspiration on what the development could look like.
Of the 27 acres, five are to be dedicated to multifamily housing, 10.5 acres will be mixed-use, six acres will be for townhomes, and two acres will be used for a parking garage, according to the concept plan.
The remaining land to the west side of the development will be kept as a park or some kind of open space. A large portion of the development would knock out the existing strip mall to the south of the main campus, where a few businesses are currently housed.
Teets said Regis will try to help those entities relocate once the projects start construction. But that could be at least two or three years from now, De La Torre said.
The university submitted its large development review plans in October and hasn’t started mapping out which parts need to be rezoned, and no building design proposals have been filed with the city.
Because the number of residential units has not been determined, De La Torre said he could not provide a percentage as to how many will be income-restricted.
The development will comply with the city’s new affordable housing mandate, however, which was adopted by City Council June 6.
Updated information on the project and future meetings will be posted at regis.edu/ about/history-mission/the-future-of-regis/regis-village.