A plan has been announced to convert one of the most historic and visible structures in Denver into new housing.
The effort would see the main and grand six-story administration building of the former Loretto Heights Academy at 3001 South Federal Boulevard turned into 50 rent-to-own housing units.
According to published sources, renovating the structure could cost upwards of $100 million.
Heading up the project is the Denver non-profit Commun, a group dedicated to fostering community economic resilience.
As envisioned, the conversion project would see the creation of units ranging in size from one to five bedrooms. Commun purchased the structure for around $4 million. A large portion of the funding for the purchase came out of an initiative approved by Colorado voters in 2022 designed to support affordable housing efforts.
The red stone building was designed in the Romanesque style by Colorado architect Frank Edbrooke in 1891 and served as the center point of a 74-acre campus founded by the Sisters of Loretto, who for decades operated a Catholic high school there for girls.
The campus eventually became the home to the non-profit Colorado Heights University, which ceased operations at the site in 2017.
Altogether, Commun wants to eventually develop around 1,000 residential units at the site. Plans also include the building of up to 367,000 square feet of commercial and retail space.
Commun has said that it will preserve the historic integrity of the administration structure, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, while also building a new parking garage.
March 3, 2026
By Garry Boulard
Photo courtesy of City of Denver
