Intuition Ale Works looking for second site

[Dog Walker]

Structural deficits?  From a Taylor Hardwick building?  No surprise.  That's why 1651 Margaret St. exists.

[Captain Zissou]

From the sounds of it, nothing is happening to the King Street brewery, so everyone can rest easy.  Bold City was the first in the neighborhood, but you wouldn't know it from looking at them today.  Both breweries have developed great locations for beer production and hosting the public.  Unfortunately the unique space that Intuition has built out has severe limits in terms of production capacity.  In the beer industry, fermentation tanks get much taller before they increase in diameter to increase volume.  That said, while square footage is negotiable, ceiling heights aren't.  Unfortunately, this caused the Red Brick Brewery in Atlanta had to move to a sterile office park in order to find an adequate space.  I don't know Sweetwater's origins, but they are currently in an industrial park. As you can see from the Intuition's situation, as much as brewers want to fit into a neighborhood they can't compromise on what they need to effectively run their business. 

In terms of revitalizing neighborhoods, I'd be careful what conclusions you jump to.  This brewery will be far more industrial and production oriented (as a percentage of space usage and functionality) than the Riverside location.  I'm sure they'll do tours and have tap room business, but the bulk of the exterior won't be able to address the street like a bar or restaurant would.  Downtown has hundreds of empty blocks or unactivated street fronts, so they will be a big improvement over whats there. 

In my opinion, Brooklyn or LaVilla would be great locations.  Both have great access and plenty of land to build from scratch.  The paint district (Park & Forest street) has some warehouses, but I doubt that they have the adequate ceiling heights.  Springfield has a decent stock of existing industrial buildings, but the access is not great especially in terms of getting to downtown. 

Either way, I think a good example to look to would be Great Divide Brewery.  They produce about 25,000 barrels a year and they are located in the heart of downtown Denver.  However, they were recruited by the city of Denver to open downtown and received heavy incentives.  Brooklyn Brewery is obviously another urban brewery.  I'll look into more examples.

[fieldafm]

Brooklyn Brewery has two buildings right off the Williamsburg main commercial strip... But they contract out most of their brewing.  Even with the addition of the new building across the street a few years ago, they brew less than a quarter of their total yearly production out of their Williamsburg facilities. 

At one point they were looking at expanding their operations to an old shipping wharf with an outdoor beer garden that would be adjacent to Brooklyn Bridge Park(a really cool waterfront park in the DUMBO area).. Think about how cool a brewery would be adjacent to a Bay Street Pier Park at the former Shipyards site (hint, hint Mr Davis)

[billy]

Sweetwater has expanded onto vacant land next door.
They are well located in terms of zoning, proximity to I-85 and the BeltLine.

[John P]

This is great news. Welcome to downtown, springfield, brooklyn or whereever you decide to come.

[Bridges]

At one point they were looking at expanding their operations to an old shipping wharf with an outdoor beer garden that would be adjacent to Brooklyn Bridge Park(a really cool waterfront park in the DUMBO area).. Think about how cool a brewery would be adjacent to a Bay Street Pier Park at the former Shipyards site (hint, hint Mr Davis)

Ford Motor Company Assembly Plant, maybe?

[fieldafm]

Considering how isolated the Ford Plant is, I say the existing Shipyards site offers far more bang for the buck... right down the street from the Bay Street Entertainment District and certainly adjacent to land with similar zoning characteristics.



If Ben is looking to build from scratch, the city can seperate a specific-size parcel from this property that would fit in with the developers needs.  The sale of this land could then help to pay for the extension of the Riverwalk and the buildout of a very simple but flexible public pier (the city has already repaired the sidewalk along this stretch of Bay Street and has started to work on flood mitigation issues at the mouht of Hogans Creek).  Jim Love had an idea about selling private monuments and bricks to also offset some of this cost with private funds (Landmar already did a good chunk of the work by repairing the bulkheads).

This would be in line with the previous suggestions offered here of emulating the Columbus Commons model of downsizing the land by splitting it up and letting the site evolve naturally with builtin public amenities surrounding the property (pier, riverwalk, Hogans Creek)... instead of relying on a big-idea, risky mega-development 'savior' that has already failed not once, but twice on this very same land. 

[fsujax]

good location. Beer and Coffee! how could we brand that district?

[CityLife]

Nailed it fieldafm. This is a great opportunity for the city to facilitate positive development downtown.  Intuition at the Shipyards would also increase the value/potential of the city's nearby real estate interests. Which would be the other portion of the Shipyards, The Old Courthouse, Old City Hall, Jail, Police Building, and numerous others. With that in mind it should be easier to work with the city than a private landowner, but I guess you never know how thick the red tape may be.

[mtraininjax]

Shipyards is perfect, Someone is going to tear down/fix Berkman II, probably tear down with some help from the city and start over. The courthouse is moving, City Hall Annex will be moving, the jail at some point will probably be moving to somewhere near the courthouse. As all the planners convey in ideas, this whole area in 5-10 years could turn into present day Lavilla, with little or nothing there.

But if we see a Hyatt "Public/Private" Partnership and a convention center there, with an expanded riverwalk down to Intuition/other riverfront developments, I see it as a win-win for that area. The mayor should really step in and create more incentives NOW for people to develop there in the shipyards. Put your money where your mouth is Alvin!

[Captain Zissou]

Field I love the idea of it, but how is the access to and from there for large trucks. They may not be 18 wheelers, but at some point some pretty big trucks are going to need to pick up and drop off things there. Could the property accommodate a loading dock with it's shallow depth?? Also, at least one side (more like all but 1 or maybe parts of two) of the property is going to be pretty industrial in appearance and how it interacts with the street. Think of intuition now but with far more tanks and a smaller percentage of the space going towards a tap room. Is this the best place for that??

If it were to be built there: I'd like to see it on the far west side with let tap room on one side going from bay street back and a patio on the river, the other side would have adjoining retail, the loading dock concealed, but with easy access to bay, and a big sign right out front letting everybody know tour schedules and tap room hours.

[Captain Zissou]

Eureka moment: what if they could put it in what is now considered Lot H (I think) where they currently set up for gameday tailgates?? I always love seeing their flag flying high on gameday, and I'd love to see it with a huge brewery underneath it in the future.

[JeffreyS]

Riverfront is likely to be pricey for a new business based on shipping.  A big Intuition Ale works neon sign on the River would be awesome.

[blizz01]

+1

[fieldafm]

There are lots of 18 wheelers that travel along Bay Street now.  With a blank slate, something could be built that would accomodate a superior loading dock facility.

Is this the cheapest option?  Probably not, but if I am spending Intution's imaginary money a riverfront taproom overlooking the Bay Street Public Pier at Bay Street Pier Park along a completed Riverwalk would at least be something I would explore.