Mighty Squirrel Brewing Co. Teams Up With Hunneman To Open Boston-Area Taproom Locations

There are thousands of restaurants and bars scattered throughout the greater Boston area. Despite these high numbers, demand for more of these businesses is rising, with consumers favoring more social interaction and family-friendly experiences — leading the way for craft breweries and taprooms to thrive. 

One brewery from the greater Boston area, Mighty Squirrel Brewing Co., recognized the opportunity to create the type of laid-back, social environment that customers are craving. Working with Hunneman, a Boston-based commercial real estate firm, Mighty Squirrel Brewing Co. opened its first location in Waltham, Massachusetts, in 2018. 

"We were on shelves in Massachusetts beginning in 2015," said Henry Manice, co-founder of Mighty Squirrel Brewing Co. "Originally we contract brewed our beer at a few different breweries over the first couple of years until we finally embarked upon doing what we had always dreamed of, which was to build our own brick-and-mortar with a production brewery and taproom."

Manice said that he and his co-founder, Naveen Pawar, were open-minded to different locations for their first brewery/taproom. The Hunneman brokerage team showed the duo properties across the Boston area, including Downtown Boston, Waltham and Cambridge. After about three years of searching for their "perfect" location, the team decided to set up shop in Waltham. 

"We worked closely with Hunneman on the negotiation with the landlord and finding a path to a deal that was exciting for everyone," Manice said. "And that path is not necessarily a short one, but the fun part is that ultimately by the time everyone signs, everyone is pleased with it."

Manice said Hunneman brokers Peter Evans and Colin Gordon played a big role in helping both sides find that path in a fun, respectful and fair way.

The Mighty Squirrel Brewing Co. flagship location is unlike a typical brewery, he said. When outfitting the space to the company’s specifications, Manice and Pawar carved out a 5K SF space to sublease to a rock climbing gym, operated by Central Rock. 

"We have a giant glass wall between us and Central Rock that’s about 8 feet tall by 50 feet long, and we don’t have TVs in our space," Manice said. "Looking into the rock climbing gym is actually the TV for our taproom, and customers really enjoy watching the climbing. For the climbers, it's really fun because they can pop into our space and hang out after climbing."

Manice said Mighty Squirrel Brewing Co. aims to be a gathering place for people of all ages. Whether guests are gathering to watch one of the climbing competitions that Central Rock hosts, coming to enjoy a beer and some live music, grabbing some lunch from the food trucks that Mighty Squirrel Brewing Co. hosts or participating in taproom trivia, the team hopes to create a fun and impactful experience for people that are working and living in the area.

Looking to expand its presence beyond Waltham, Hunneman has helped close two other deals for the Mighty Squirrel Brewing Co. team — a 13K SF brewery and taproom in Boston's Fenway neighborhood and a 4K SF brewery and taproom in Watertown.

"Since we opened our first location, we’ve continued to look at spaces across the Boston area with Hunneman," he said. "We’ve spent time building up our distribution business across Massachusetts, and a lot of people in Boston know our brand. But even though Waltham is very close to Boston, sometimes people in Boston feel like Waltham is far away."

He said there are a lot of people that have experienced the Mighty Squirrel brand, but they haven't necessarily been to its brick-and-mortar space. Manice said the team is excited at the prospect of building a location in Boston where more people can experience Mighty Squirrel directly.

Mighty Squirrel Brewing Co.'s Watertown brewery will open for business in 2024 at Arsenal Yards, a new mixed-use development, alongside other local favorites, including Blackbird Doughnuts, Ten One Tea House and Skin Laundry. The company’s Fenway location will be steps away from iconic Fenway Park, so baseball fans can enjoy a refreshment and socialize with friends after a Red Sox game.  

"Boston is a growing city, and the location that Hunneman helped us get in Fenway is perfect for what we were looking for," he said.

Fenway is completely transforming — there are many more residential and office buildings going up, and so it's much more than concerts and ball games, he said. The team is looking forward to becoming part of the local community, as well as the larger regional community that being located in a big city like Boston brings.

"People come from all over Massachusetts, and even all over New England, to come to a ball game or a concert," he said. "They prioritize that. If they can walk one block to check out Mighty Squirrel Brewing Co. before or after a game, then that's a big win for us."

As the two companies continue to work together, Manice said Mighty Squirrel Brewing Co. and Hunneman are keeping their ears to the ground for further real estate opportunities in the Boston area.

"Naveen and I have loved working with the Hunneman team for the past seven years, and there's a lot of time spent looking at locations and going through the deal process, and to have all that history makes it more fun and valuable as we look forward to new opportunities together," Manice said. "If you're not doing it with people that you like, people you want to maybe grab a beer with and people that you trust and understand you, then what's it all for?"

This article was produced in collaboration between Hunneman and Studio B. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.

Studio B is Bisnow’s in-house content and design studio. To learn more about how Studio B can help your team, reach out to studio@bisnow.com.