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Re-purposing real estate: How that abandoned building could be your next brewery

August 17, 2015Donna Truex

Repurpose real estate craft brewery
Guess what’s on the inside? Ok, you’re right, it’s beer.

From a jailhouse in Georgia to a fire station in Ohio, craft breweries are springing up everywhere. With the popularity of these breweries soaring, making up 11 percent of the country’s beer production and consumption market in 2014, there are renewed opportunities for old factories and large abandoned spaces with high ceilings to reinvent themselves. Places with open floor plans can provide the perfect setting to easily install brewing, fermenting and packaging equipment.

There are numerous examples of such building reuse in the Commonwealth, including Jack’s Abby Brewing Co.’s reuse of the Dennison Manufacturing building located at 100 Clinton Street in Framingham, Mass.; Abandoned Building Brewery, which is housed in an old mill building known as The Brickyard in downtown Easthampton, Mass.; and Wormtown Brewery that recently expanded to an auto dealership on Shrewsbury Street in Worcester.

craft brewery remodel
Sure, it’s going to take some work to clean this space up, but it’s large, open and usually cost less to acquire.

Jack’s Abby Brewing recently embarked on an expansion to a much larger space by renovating a 67,000-square-foot manufacturing building in historic downtown Framingham into a brewery with 5,000-square-foot restaurant and tasting room. It is expected to open at the end of this year. Abandoned Building Brewery opened at the end of 2013, after converting a 1910 building previously used by a plastic bag manufacturer into a 2,700-square-foot micro-brewery. Wormtown Brewery was initially located in a former ice cream shop on Park Avenue in Worcester and now occupies 10,000 square feet of the former Edward Buick building in Worcester’s own North end.

These large, old and often abandoned buildings are much more than just cheap space. The reasons that craft brewers are so attracted to these spaces is because they are large, open and usually cost less to acquire. There may also be tax incentives available to aid in keeping start-up costs down.

With benefits there are also risks to consider such as zoning regulations that restrict the use of properties. The zone district that these properties are located in, such as industrial, may allow brewing and manufacturing, but may not allow retail or restaurant/tasting room uses. If such uses are not allowed as a matter of right, expansion may require zoning relief. Also, the use will need to comply with applicable dimensional requirements or qualify for grandfathering (provided the prior use had not been ceased for more than two years). Beyond the zoning considerations, older structures have historic, environmental and title issues that may pose barriers to their redevelopment and repurposing.

A common environmental issue for brewers is the heavy water use, which poses environmental and economic hurdles due to water consumption and wastewater disposal. The chosen building must have sufficient local facilities and utilities available to it to support the water-related demands of a brewery. Moreover, the discharge of the wastewater produced by brewers usually requires approvals from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection or U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

In sum, buildings that seem appropriate in location and size may not be conducive to the desired use. So, caution, education and due diligence must be exercised.

Donna TruexDonna Truex Bowditch & Dewey is a partner in Bowditch & Dewey LLP’s real estate and environmental practice and a member of the firm’s craft brewery group. She represents breweries in all aspects of corporate compliance and real estate and has successfully defended these clients in licensing proceedings before the ABCC.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. KrisHoellen says

    September 1, 2015 at 11:36 pm

    Communities change one building at a time. Breweries can spark economic development, attracting both tourists and other entrepreneurs.

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  2. Brad Thomas says

    August 22, 2015 at 5:37 pm

    Brad Thomas liked this on Facebook.

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  3. oliiolive says

    August 22, 2015 at 9:12 am

    RT https://t.co/yBBRdJ6F6P BEerCRAFTY: How that abandoned building could be your next #brewery: http://t.co/iKy0ftGryu

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  4. BEerCRAFTY says

    August 22, 2015 at 9:05 am

    How that abandoned building could be your next #brewery: http://t.co/mlAzPTuS4m

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  5. Hauck Architecture says

    August 21, 2015 at 11:21 am

    Hauck Architecture liked this on Facebook.

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  6. Buffalowing says

    August 21, 2015 at 11:19 am

    RT @YCHHOPS: Who’s done this? “Re-purposing real estate: How that abandoned building could be your next brewery” http://t.co/jbONSDP9Mx #br…

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  7. RoanokeHomebrew says

    August 21, 2015 at 11:18 am

    RT @YCHHOPS: Who’s done this? “Re-purposing real estate: How that abandoned building could be your next brewery” http://t.co/jbONSDP9Mx #br…

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  8. YCHHOPS says

    August 21, 2015 at 11:10 am

    Who’s done this? “Re-purposing real estate: How that abandoned building could be your next brewery” http://t.co/jbONSDP9Mx #brewery #beer

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  9. sundeejo2002 says

    August 21, 2015 at 10:18 am

    RT @sullivanday30: Repurposing older buildings for breweries – http://t.co/gIM8w4EULu @CraftBrewingBiz #craftbeer #oldermeanscharacter #rep…

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  10. sullivanday30 says

    August 21, 2015 at 10:00 am

    Repurposing older buildings for breweries – http://t.co/gIM8w4EULu @CraftBrewingBiz #craftbeer #oldermeanscharacter #repurpose #coololdstuff

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  11. hauckarch says

    August 20, 2015 at 5:06 pm

    Good article about what might be a good brewery building, but needs special considerations before making the deal. http://t.co/shWek3ql9n

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  12. BeerLawCenter says

    August 20, 2015 at 3:55 pm

    How that abandoned building could be your next brewery http://t.co/48N0ddewlv

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  13. Lee III says

    August 19, 2015 at 5:52 pm

    Lee III liked this on Facebook.

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  14. McNearyBrew says

    August 19, 2015 at 12:29 pm

    Really Good FYI! https://t.co/IjiDH6oGaG

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  15. Derek Needham says

    August 18, 2015 at 5:52 pm

    Derek Needham liked this on Facebook.

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  16. KCHopTalk says

    August 18, 2015 at 2:13 pm

    Re-purposing real estate: How that abandoned building could be your next brewery http://t.co/eoht8JRFUX

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  17. truex62 says

    August 18, 2015 at 10:31 am

    How that abandoned building could be your next brewery http://t.co/nqbwjcmoHK via @craftbrewingbiz

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  18. Joshua Bennett says

    August 18, 2015 at 5:51 am

    Joshua Bennett liked this on Facebook.

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  19. sean_fagan_1 says

    August 17, 2015 at 10:42 pm

    RT @crsimp01: How that abandoned building could be your next brewery http://t.co/ghr5hiVYu9 via @craftbrewingbiz

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  20. Beall Brewery Insurance says

    August 17, 2015 at 9:36 pm

    Beall Brewery Insurance liked this on Facebook.

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  21. cbusbrewadv says

    August 17, 2015 at 5:56 pm

    RT @crsimp01: How that abandoned building could be your next brewery http://t.co/ghr5hiVYu9 via @craftbrewingbiz

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  22. Brew and Be Covered says

    August 17, 2015 at 5:22 pm

    Brew and Be Covered liked this on Facebook.

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  23. Mike Bernstein says

    August 17, 2015 at 5:22 pm

    Mike Bernstein liked this on Facebook.

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  24. crsimp01 says

    August 17, 2015 at 5:19 pm

    How that abandoned building could be your next brewery http://t.co/ghr5hiVYu9 via @craftbrewingbiz

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  25. seanbuckley says

    August 17, 2015 at 1:50 pm

    RT @CraftBrewingBiz: Re-purposing real estate: How that abandoned building could be your next brewery hotspot: http://t.co/sjVSe5REJ2

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  26. Jeff Taylor says

    August 17, 2015 at 1:06 pm

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Trackbacks

  1. Craft Brewing Business Publishes “Re-Purposing Real Estate: How That Abandoned Building Could be Your Next Brewery” by Donna Truex - Commercial Real Estate Insight & News says:
    July 31, 2020 at 9:29 am

    […] Read “Re-Purposing Real Estate: How That Abandoned Building Could be Your Next Brewery” on the Craft Brewing Business website HERE. […]

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  2. Five Beer Articles You Need To Read And Why, 8/18/15 | The Beer Counselor says:
    August 18, 2015 at 8:58 am

    […] That derelict warehouse you pass everyday going to work could become the next big craft brewery for …. […]

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