Regis

Regis is the far northwest corner of Denver, a rough rectangle with I-70 on the south, 52nd Avenue on the north, Federal Boulevard on the east and Harlan Street on the west. Clear Creek cuts across the northwest edge. Berkeley is across I-70 to the south, and Chaffee Park is across Federal to the east. The neighborhood takes its name from the university.

A Jesuit college on donated land

The school opened in 1877 as Las Vegas College in New Mexico, then spent a few years in Morrison as the College of the Sacred Heart. In 1887 John Brisben Walker gave it land in north Denver, out in what was then the town of Berkeley, and the cornerstone of Main Hall went down that September. It's three stories of rhyolite and red sandstone under a mansard roof, and classes started there in 1888. Denver annexed the Town of Berkeley in 1902. The college took the Regis name in the early 1920s and became Regis University in 1991.

Residential blocks and an old Shriners temple

Away from Federal, Regis is mostly residential streets with a few small businesses mixed in, and new houses have been going up among the older ones. The most unusual building is the former El Jebel Shrine at 50th and Vrain, right on the golf course. Architects William N. Bowman and T. Robert Wieger designed it, and the Shriners moved in in 1930. Confluence Cos. restored the exterior of the roughly 55,000-square-foot building and turned the inside into 24 condos called Mirador, with big decks on the top floors facing the Rockies. If you're looking at a Mirador unit, read the association's budget closely, since the dues carry the upkeep of a building from 1930.

Willis Case and Inspiration Point

Willis Case Golf Course, at 4999 Vrain St., is a city-run 18-hole course that used to be the Rocky Mountain Golf Course. Expect full-grown trees, narrow sloping fairways and small greens, plus a junior layout called Katie's Course. The clubhouse patio looks out toward the mountains at sunset, and the Willis Case Tavern inside serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, with prime rib on Fridays in the cooler months.

Inspiration Point Park, on the west end, covers 25 acres on a bluff above the Clear Creek Valley. George Kessler and architect Henry Wright finished it in 1910. A 700-foot white concrete wall runs along the bluff, and a quarter-mile path lined with ponderosa pines leads west to the vista point, where the Front Range fills the horizon. A boulder carries a 1941 plaque for Louis Ralston, who found gold in the creek below in 1850.

A few storefronts on Lowell

Lowell Boulevard near campus has a short run of small businesses. Rocky Top Tavern, at 4907 Lowell, was the Hilltop Tavern for decades before new owners took over in 2013, and it's known for its wings, especially on Wing Wednesdays. Dubbel Dutch has been doing sandwiches, salads, coffee and Dutch treats since 2003. For a longer list of restaurants, Tennyson Street in Berkeley is a short bike ride south.

Regis Village on Federal

In December 2025 the City Council approved Regis University's rezoning for its 23.5 acres along Federal Boulevard between 50th and 52nd Avenues, the site it calls Regis Village. The plan mixes housing, shops, offices and open space, and the concept drawings show buildings from two to five stories. It would replace the Regis Square parking lot, a former McDonald's site and existing businesses. The university hasn't published construction dates, so if you buy near Federal, assume a large building project will go up across the street at some point.

Getting around

Federal runs along the east edge and I-70 along the south. An RTD bus line stops along Regis Boulevard, and the G Line commuter rail runs less than a mile from campus. The Clear Creek Trail follows the neighborhood's northwest edge and connects Golden to Commerce City.