Regas Christou is going back to the altar.
Denver’s nightlife king, who developed The Church venue in Cap Hill in the 1990s, bought the former home of 430 Years Church of God in Christ at 701 E. 23rd Ave in the Five Points neighborhood last week, according to public records.
Records show an ultra-low $60,000 price tag for the parcel at the corner of 23rd Avenue and Washington Street. It last traded hands in 1998 for $40,000 in a deal between 430 Years and another church, records show.
Christou did not detail his plans for the 4,800-square-foot building but said he will soon file permits.
“Since the city is getting in the real estate business buying hotels, shopping centers and offices, I have no doubt that they would provide me the grants to restore this great building!” he said in a text detailing his reason for the purchase.
The Cyprus native got his start in hospitality with the opening of Regas Café, a jazz joint. In the early 1990s, he ventured into nightlife with the opening of the Deadbeat Club along Evans Avenue.
That spot propelled him to the top of Denver’s late-night scene. On New Year’s Eve in 1996, Christou followed Deadbeat with a club at a former Episcopal church that was built in 1865. When the venue at 1160 Lincoln St. celebrated its 25th year, he told Westword that changing from a house of worship to a house of music took three years.
“The main thing was to not f*** up what was already here,” he said at the time. “That was the biggest concern of mine, because my mother was alive then, and when I told her I was going to do a club in a church, she thought I was crazy — she actually slapped me.”
The bars at the venue were made from pews.
“But I promised her I was going to respect what this is,” Christou said. “That was the hard part. It’s easy to take a space, tear it up, put in a bunch of lights and a sound system and call it a night.”
Christou no longer runs The Church. He sold the business in 2024 along with Club Vinyl at 1082 Broadway. He still owns and operates Milk Bar in Golden Triangle and The Junkyard in Lincoln Park.
He also has a Cap Hill lounge called Parea in the works at 40 E. 11th Ave. Originally expected to open in the fall, he blamed the delay on administrative challenges with the city.
Christou is also building out a club and outdoor venue at his Lincoln Park warehouse holdings, but he plans to lease them out to a different operator, he told Businessden last week.
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