Denver church in Cole neighborhood will become a cafe

For the first time in decades, a little purple church in Denver’s Cole neighborhood will be open on Sundays. Not for mass or services, but for coffee and wine.

“There’s a need for interesting neighborhood retail around here. It’s an interesting neighborhood, and it’s an interesting property,” said Nathan Beal, a local developer.

Beal runs a one-person shop, St. Bernard Properties, which he started about 20 years ago. The 47-year-old hails from the South, but you wouldn’t know that unless you get some whiskey in him, he said.

He likes to bike around town and left Atlanta for Denver’s more “consistent urban fabric,” which his developments reflect: small-scale infill projects, townhomes and duplexes, which pair well with neighborhood retail. He’s currently renovating a motel on East Colfax