The former Perfect Screw Products Corp. facility in West Allis could become a 15-barrel brewhouse with taproom and private event space, according to plans filed with the city.
The name of the brewpub still hasn't been announced. But its operators will purchase the city-owned site under the name West Allis Brewing Property LLC, said Patrick Schloss, West Allis community development manager. The group is led by Jon Onopa.
Onopa's group has submitted to the city a letter of intent 1.3 acres south of West National Avenue, between South Six Points Crossing to the east and South 68th Street to the west. The site includes the 10,000-square-foot Perfect Screw building, which would be renovated for the brewpub.
Project plans include the brewery, on-site tap room with large bar, multiple seating areas, a private event space and various outdoor points of interest, including an outdoor bar, beer garden, two on-site food trucks, two sand volleyball courts and other areas for gathering and outdoor games.
A project site plan shows a proposed small addition at the front of the building.
A special use permit, along with site, landscaping and architectural plans, are up for approval on Wednesday's
plan commission meeting. The city's Community Development Authority will hold a public hearing on the land sale on Nov. 10. Schloss said the city hopes to close on the sale of the property by the end of the year.
A city staff report presents a detailed project schedule that includes a construction start on building improvements in January, installation of brewhouse equipment in May and an opening date of June 15.
The project site is one portion of a larger
5-acre redevelopment area west of the West Allis Farmers Market. The site includes the 40,000-square-foot Kearney & Trecker Corp. manufacturing building. The city is working with Chicago-based Baum Revision LLC to
turn the building into an event and food-production space with kitchen incubator.
In their report, city staffers recommend the plans be approved.
That project is on pause, however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Schloss said Baum Revision remains interested, and interest from other users has meanwhile also grown.
The entire redevelopment site is also southwest of The West, a new 177-unit apartment complex developed by Milwaukee-based Mandel Group Inc. Mandel is working to
develop more buildings south of its new apartment complex, across the street from the farmers market.
The developer also pitched another 90-unit apartment project at the Perfect Screw site. Schloss said the city at one point considered more apartments there, but the brewpub proposal fits in well with its goal of creating a destination place along this stretch of National Avenue.
"We’re creating a cool destination, and this brewpub fits in with that long-term vision," he said.
