A California company selected as buyer of the historicampus in southwest Denver promises to preserve the college’s most treasured landmarks and to cooperate with residents worried about its redevelopment.
“This is a highly visible development which demands thoughtful planning and execution,” said Tom Marshall, executive vice president of Catellus Development Corporation, which is based in Oakland. “will collaborate with community leaders and neighbors, Colorado Heights University, and the City and County Denver to determine the best uses while working to preserve and transform the campus.”
Colorado Heights University announced Wednesday morning it had picked Catellus Development as the buyer of the storied, 70-acre campus. A final closing price for the campus has not been determined as both parties now enter into a due diligence period, company spokeswoman Jessica Reynolds said.
Catellus developments in Colorado include Stapleton Business Center in Denver, Circle Point Corporate Campus in Westminster and Traer Creek in Avon. Other Catellus developments nationwide include Mueller in Austin, Texas, Mission Bay in San Francisco and Novus Innovation Corridor at Arizona State University in Tempe, Ariz.
The company has more than 30 years’ experience transforming former brownfields, military land, university campuses and airports into developments that include retail, commercial, residential and other public uses, Catellus officials said.
The company udnerstands the Loretto Heights redevelopment is a touchy issue for neighbors of the campus, who want to maintain its historic character, Reynolds said.
“We specialized in working with and gathering community input,” she said.
Jim Gibson, who helped organize a working group to offer neighbors’ redevelopment ideas for the campus, said he is cautiously optimistic about Catellus and its intent. “It’s the old trust-but-verify attitude,” Gibson said. “They are saying all the right things and we look forward to making sure they live up to that.”Kevin Flynn, the Denver city councilman who represents the neighborhoods surrounding the campus, said he is also encouraged by the talks he’s had with Catellus.
“I’ve met several times in the past month with Catellus to convey to them the cultural importance of this iconic hilltop location to everyone in southwest Denver,” Flynn said. “I’m very encouraged that this is exactly why Catellus was drawn to this opportunity, and I am anxious to get them engaged with our community.”
The campus was opened in 1891 by the Sisters of Loretto as Loretto Heights Academy, a Catholic elementary and secondary school for girls.
In 1948, Loretto Heights phased out its elementary and secondary programs and became Loretto Heights College, a four-year college for women. Colorado Heights University opened in 2009 and specialized in international business and English courses.
Japan-based Teikyo University group, which bought the campus in 1989, announced its closure last year. As many as 500 students were enrolled in classes at the time. They were allowed to remain and complete their course work or transfer to another institution.
The closure alarmed neighbors, who feared a new developer would alter the campus and endanger the college’s historic administration building and chapel. A cemetery where 62 Sisters of Loretto are buried also is on campus.
The university has offered to donate the cemetery to the Sisters of Loretto and will provide some financial assistance for the transfer, said Fred Van Liew, president of Colorado Heights University.
The selection of Catellus came after a six-month search for a new owner. The university’s goal was to find the most qualified buyer who would also be committed to keeping the historic administration building and chapel intact, Liew said.
“We are pleased that the administration building and chapel will be preserved, as we pledged to do, and we will continue to work with the Sisters of Loretto on our offer to donate the cemetery,” Liew said. “We believe Catellus will be an ideal fit for this project because of the company’s strong history of community engagement on other projects with historically significant sites.”
