Norfolk a possible finalist for Stone Brewery

[mikeas]

Some may have heard that Stone is looking for an East Coast location to expand brewery operations, much as Green Flash is doing with it's Virginia Beach location coming soon.  Norfolk is bidding for it along with several other cities and states.  The president of Stone apparently was just in town checking out the new O'Connor brewery, Smartmouth, and taking a general tour of the area.

 

I'm not sure of the sources from this article but it mentions a location could be next to Harbor Park.

http://norfolkmetro.com/2014/06/04/norfolk-a-finalist-for-stone-brewery/

 

There's also a "Bring Stone Brewing to Norfolk" facebook page with a lot of followers: https://www.facebook.com/bringstonetoNorfolk

 

 

 

[vdogg]

I'm sure our no. 2 spot as drunkest city in America also helps http://wtkr.com/2013/01/03/norfolk-named-the-no-2-drunkest-city-in-america/ . They'll make bank here, lol.

[Ghentite]

I recently heard of an upcoming potential development over there between Harobor Park and the Rail Station.  I wonder if this was the catlyst for it...

[BFG]

Perfect location! Close to downtown, near an LRT stop and makes a nice companion to Tides games. It could also lead to a "Riverwalk" connection to Waterside Live.

 

All the more reason to look into reconsider the SPQ concept.

[carolinaboy]

Perfect location! Close to downtown, near an LRT stop and makes a nice companion to Tides games. It could also lead to a "Riverwalk" connection to Waterside Live.

 

All the more reason to look into reconsider the SPQ concept.

Good post.

[vdogg]

http://www.myhorrynews.com/business/article_acbb8e50-f010-11e3-b493-001a4bcf6878.html

 

The Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Corporation was notified by a representative from the S.C. Department of Commerce on Monday that the Myrtle Beach area is not among the final locations selected by Stone Brewing Company for their East Coast expansion, according to a news release....

 

Local leaders poured themselves into the effort to land Stone Brewing Co., but after tapping into all of their resources — including changing state law — they suspect the California beermaker will look elsewhere for its East Coast operation.Stone, the country’s 10th largest craft brewer, announced earlier this year that it would build a brewery east of the Mississippi River. The company plans to hire hundreds of workers and invest at least $20 million in building the new brewery....

 

But local leaders now say they aren’t optimistic the country’s 10th largest craft brewer will build its next operation here — or even in South Carolina. Based on media reports, some believe Virginia is the front runner to land the project....

 

For their eastern U.S. brewery, Stone officials are looking for at least a 130,000-square-foot facility that offers room to expand up to 220,000 square feet. The company also wants to be within a mile of a major freeway.

 

Ideally, Stone would like to build a restaurant and retail store on the same property. The Stone World Bistro and Gardens is a popular farm-to-table restaurant at the company’s headquarters in Escondido, Calif., and the brewer hopes to eventually have that kind of operation at its new location.

 

 

Hmmm....I will expand on this is just a minute. Pay attention to the bolded portions. I have stumbled across something that you guys may find quite interesting.

[vdogg]

http://www.norfolk.gov/DocumentCenter/View/16109

 

2. CITY OF NORFOLK, for the following applications: 

a. Text amendment to amend the following sections of the Zoning Ordinance: 

section 2-3, "Definitions," Table 5-A, “Table of Land Uses” for Office and 

Business/Commerce Districts, Table 5-B, “Dimensional Standards” for Office and 

Business/Commerce Districts, Table 6-A, “Table of Land Uses” for Commercial 

Districts, Table 7-A, “Table of Land Uses” for Industrial Districts, Table 8-A, “Table 

of Land Uses” for Downtown Districts, and Table 11-24-A, “Table of Land Uses” for 

the Riverview Pedestrian Commercial Overlay District. 

b. Change of zoning from O-1 (Office) district to BC-1 (Business and Commerce Park) 

district on property located at 6000 Northampton Boulevard. 

 

The purpose of the requests is to add definitions for brewery, microbrewery, and 

brewpub and to allow the uses in certain Business/Commerce, Commercial, Industrial, 

and Downtown zoning districts, as well as the Riverview Pedestrian Commercial 

Overlay District. 

 

 

 

This is on the June 26th agenda. They also have a map of property close to 64 with pretty high visibility should a brewery choose to locate there (click the link). We may be hearing some news in pretty short order. Keep your fingers crossed.

[HRVT]

http://www.norfolk.gov/DocumentCenter/View/16109

 

 

This is on the June 26th agenda. They also have a map of property close to 64 with pretty high visibility should a brewery choose to locate there (click the link). We may be hearing some news in pretty short order. Keep your fingers crossed.

This would be HUGE IMO. Not only that, but it could ultimately be a semi-alternative to tailgating before a Tides game.

[brikkman]

http://www.norfolk.gov/DocumentCenter/View/16109

 

 

This is on the June 26th agenda. They also have a map of property close to 64 with pretty high visibility should a brewery choose to locate there (click the link). We may be hearing some news in pretty short order. Keep your fingers crossed.

So am I understanding this correctly, there will be two areas for stone brewery in Norfolk. one near/on lake wright and one DT somewhere like arts district?

[vdogg]

So am I understanding this correctly, there will be two areas for stone brewery in Norfolk. one near/on lake wright and one DT somewhere like arts district?

I think it is two "options". One downtown or one along 64. Whichever they choose, the entire complex will be at one site, which is one of Stone Brewery's conditions. We still have some stiff competition, but I'm feeling optimistic with the direction this is headed.

[mikeas]

Interesting.  I'm not sure having the brewery at Harbor Park is the best use of the land unless they but it would be an incredible place for the tasting room.  Either way it's going to be a destination for people from all over the area they decide to locate.

 

Did the USPS ever decide for sure if they were going to close the large Norfolk processing center?  If so that might be a great location for a Stone brewery!

[Norva757]

having the brewery by harbor park works for them because there is rail there that they can tie into to ship the beer over the east coast

[vdogg]

Norfolk has offered the naming rights to Harbor Park

http://norfolkmetro.com/2014/06/12/for-stone-brewing-harbor-park-naming-rights/

As part of its overall proposal to Stone Brewing Company, the city of Norfolk has offered nearly $20 million in incentives as well as naming rights to Harbor Park, the home to Baltimore Orioles AAA baseball affiliate Norfolk Tides.

The baseball stadium proposal makes sense in that the Norfolk site Stone Brewing Company favors is adjacent to Harbor Park on the banks of the Elizabeth River.

[BFG]

Dunno if this is an official pic from Stone Brewery, but an AltDaily post has this picture, and I must say it's probably one of the most impressive shots I've seen of the DT Norfolk skyline. The density looks great with Wells Fargo there, and the conference center will only add more!

 

 

[HRVT]

I didn't realize that there were 10 finalists, with Philly, Charlotte, and Richmond in that bunch. Definitely some stiff competition there. I thought Norfolk was one of only a couple finalists. I can honestly see them ending up in Richmond. I guess we'll all know in August.

[zeppelin14]

That would be great to have some real beer at Stone Brewery Harbor Park beside Bud Light.

[vdogg]

http://hamptonroads.com/2014/07/norfolk-rezones-northampton-blvd-land-brewery

I do believe we scooped this story a couple of weeks ago. Just saying...

[Ghentite]

I can confirm that if they choose Norfolk, it will 100% be at Harbor Park.  Stone nor the city ever considered the Northampton blvd. site.  That's just an added bonus of the rezoning for local breweries and pushing through red tape so that if we win Stone, they can start business right away and don't have to wait for any city holdups.  The city literally rolled out the red carpet for these guys and made quite an impression.  Fingers crossed.

[Urbanlooker]

4 out only 6 left

http://insidebiz.com/news/stone-brewing-rules-out-nc-and-sc-norfolk-prepares-site

[BFG]

Interesting that cities like Charlotte and Myrtle Beach missed the cut. I think Norfolk's up-and-coming status as a craft beer/microbrewery city is really helping its case, not to mention the popularity of Beer Fest at Town Point Park.

[BFG]

That article said it's now down to Norfolk and Columbus...I knew we were finalists, but I didn't know it had gotten that close. Interesting that the comments echo the sentiment here, it would really suck to lose out on that deal.

[vdogg]

I love the guy saying he doesn't know what Norfolk has to offer. How about being one of the largest ports on the east coast? I'm actually surprised it's between us and Columbus instead of us and Richmond. I'm just not seeing the thought process behind that.

[HRVT]

I love the guy saying he doesn't know what Norfolk has to offer. How about being one of the largest ports on the east coast? I'm actually surprised it's between us and Columbus instead of us and Richmond. I'm just not seeing the thought process behind that.

 

That guy is a fool. I just found his "more news comes out of Columbus than Norfolk" quote entertaining. I mean, OBVIOUSLY when you live in Columbus, you're going to hear more news about Columbus than Norfolk. 

 

Norfolk has a lot to offer. And given that the competition is Columbus, I actually feel pretty good about this one. I actually was expecting it to come down to Norfolk, Richmond, Philly, and/or Myrtle Beach or some combo of those 4. 

 

I think it's SLIGHTLY better than 50/50 for us.

[Ghentite]

I have no insider news other than what I've already shared but I can confidently say that Norfolk truly pitched their everything and if Stone decides to go elsewhere, then it just wasn't meant to be.  You can't bash Norfolk this time, they tried their best to bring in an outside company and gave them an offer they couldn't refuse.

[BFG]

I've never been to Columbus so I can't guess the makeup of their city any better than they can do ours, but even though that's a college town, I do wonder if they have a craft beer fanbase the way Norfolk does, esp. in Ghent. Another option in addition to Smartmouth and O'Connor is always welcome, although I'm all about supporting the local economy. As I said earlier, a national brand could not only help boost Norfolk's profile as a popular craft beer city, but I feel the breweries could compliment each other in a way.