Milwaukee Brewing Company is planning to expand its operations and move to the Shipping Center building in the former Pabst brewery complex in downtown Milwaukee, according to numerous sources familiar with the deal.
Milwaukee-based Zilber Ltd. has led the redevelopment of the former Pabst complex into The Brewery, a mixed-use neighborhood with apartments, a hotel, higher educational facilities and office space. Zilber acquired most of the complex and over several years has sold buildings in the complex to other developers for specific redevelopment projects.
The website for The Brewery indicates that the Shipping Center (Building 42), located southwest of West Juneau Avenue and North 8th Street, is under contract. Milwaukee Brewing Co. has been in talks with Zilber Ltd. about the building for more than a year, according to sources.
The two-story, 175,968-square-foot building will allow Milwaukee Brewing Co. to complete its much needed expansion. It is unclear how much space in the former Pabst building will be used by the company.
During a December interview with BizTimes, Milwaukee Brewing Co. founder Jim McCabe said he was searching for more space in Milwaukee.
McCabe did not respond to numerous interview requests for this story.
McCabe opened the Milwaukee Ale House in the Third Ward in 1997, and has since grown the company. It now produces 13,000 barrels of beer annually with Milwaukee Brewing Co. He said in December that the company has outgrown the 15,000-square-foot Walker’s Point brewery at 631 S. Second Street.
Milwaukee Brewing Co. has another 10,000-square-foot building for storage in the Walker’s Point neighborhood, which is also at capacity, McCabe said.
McCabe is trying to secure new markets tax credits for the project at the former Pabst brewery, according to sources.
The Shipping Center is the last former Pabst brewery building that has not yet been slated for a specific redevelopment project. Each floor contains 87,500 square feet. It also offers access to docks on both levels and up to 49 parking spaces on each floor.
If the Milwaukee Brewing Company deal is completed, the former Pabst brewery complex could again become a destination for beer, and a site of beer production. Pabst shut down the Milwaukee brewery in 1996.
Pabst Brewing Company plans to open a small “innovation brewery,” a tasting room, restaurant and bar at the former First German Methodist Church in the complex. Pabst will also open a 2,100-square-foot satellite office in the Pabst Professional Center, a new office building in the complex which was completed in 2014 and is now 100 percent leased.
