Here are 5 Chicago Breweries in the Pipeline
If you read the news about the AB/InBEV-SABMiller merger yesterday, you know that beer is big business. That's especially true in Chicago, where the craft beer industry has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years. From Lagunitas' giant Douglas Park brewery, Revolution building a brewhouse in Avondale, and Goose Island turning a former warehouse into a barrel aging facility, breweries are forming, expanding and looking for sites to call home. Here are five breweries in the pipeline.
Where: 2050 W Balmoral
Size: 60k SF
Expected Delivery: 2017
Half Acre went from contract brewing their beers in Wisconsin to becoming the fifth-largest brewery in Illinois in eight years, and has outgrown its current brewery in North Center. The company announced plans to build out a second brewery in Bowmanville last year, along with a taproom, restaurant and beer garden. Those plans were finally OK'd by the Plan Commission in August.
Where: 3630 S Iron
Size: 45k SF
Expected Delivery: 2017
This one-year-old, Bridgeport-based group has been brewing out of a South Halsted Street storefront. It recently signed a lease on a former warehouse space in the Stockyards PMD, which it plans to convert into a brewery, taproom and performance space.
Where: 2515 S Wabash
Size: 25k SF
Expected Delivery: 2015
Chicago's original craft brewery announced plans to build out this Motor Row warehouse last year, with brewing beginning by the end of summer. The finishing touches on the brewery are in progress, including a gift shop, event rooms and a Willis Tower-inspired "skybox" to give guests impeccable views of the downtown skyline.
Where: 1745 W Walnut
Size: 15k SF
Expected Delivery: Unknown
A JV including Avram Builders partner David Avram bought this site for $1.7M in February and announced plans to build Great Central shortly after. It's unknown what beers Great Central will make, but the space will also be used as a business incubator and include a full-scale production and bottling system.
Where: 1800 W Walnut
Size: 10k SF
Expected Delivery: Late 2015
Like Minds founders, John LaVelle and Justin Aphrahamian, live and work in Milwaukee, but decided to build their brewery in the Kinzie Street industrial corridor after attempts to find a location in their hometown fell through. They repurposed a 100-year-old building five blocks from the United Center, and their first batches of beer, brewed using ingredients such as rhubarb and cucumber, will be available later this year.
