Milwaukee-based Central Standard Craft Distillery plans to relocate its main distillery operations to a portion of Harley-Davidson’s headquarters campus, located on the city’s Near West Side at 3700 W. Juneau Ave.
Central Standard recently purchased a 73,000-square-foot space on the Harley-Davidson campus. The space will be transformed into a distillery and tasting room offering tours and hosting private events.
Central Standard’s existing Crafthouse & Kitchen located at 320 E. Clybourn St. in downtown Milwaukee will remain open.
The new distillery space will expand Central Standard’s production capacity more than 20 times, according to a Wednesday announcement.
A groundbreaking for the project is scheduled for later this summer, with an anticipated opening date of late spring 2026. The project’s architect of record is Minnesota-based HGA.
“Harley-Davidson will continue to operate on the site as they have done for more than 120 years,” the announcement says.
However, Harley-Davidson’s presence at its historic corporate headquarters campus has shrunk dramatically since the COVID-19 pandemic and many of the office employees who used to work there have been working remote. With the significant decline in daily activity at the campus, the company converted an unused parking lot into a $20 million, 4.8-acre park called Davidson Park. The company has also been considering options for repurposing its headquarters.
Last year the company revealed updated remodeling plans for the campus, including a STEAM Lab and a Harley-Davidson Factory Racing headquarters.
“In partnership with the Near West Side neighborhood and the City of Milwaukee, Harley-Davidson was committed to finding the right partner for the available space, and Central Standard’s continued investment in historic properties and the Near West Side made the distillery a perfect fit for the iconic site,” a press release says. “With the surge of activity that the revived campus is expected to bring to the area, Central Standard is also projecting that its headcount will double to staff the new distillery.”
Central Standard’s new distillery space will be located just west of Davidson Park and will allow the company to consolidate its three Milwaukee facilities into one space.
Central Standard anticipates doubling its number of employees (currently around 10) once the new distillery is complete.
The company’s current distillery is located at 2330 W. Clybourn St. The building will now be marketed and sold by Colliers International. Steve Sewart, broker at Colliers, will help facilitate the sale of the building.
“With the success of our Crafthouse & Kitchen, as well as the regional growth of our spirits and ready-to-drink products, this expansion presents the perfect timing and opportunity for continued strategic growth,” said Central Standard’s co-founder and CEO, Evan Hughes. “We’re well-positioned to exponentially grow our production capacity, to continue to meet consumer demand for our offerings, and to engage with the Milwaukee community in new and exciting ways.”
