Milwaukee-based Spike Brewing, a home brewing equipment manufacturer, plans to build a $9 million, 73,000 square-foot manufacturing facility on a city-owned vacant site at 4132 N. Holton St. in the Estabrook Park neighborhood, according to a news release from the Department of City Development.
The site is about a mile north of Spike Brewing’s current location at 3866 N. Fratney St. The company plans to retain its current 25 employees at the new facility and plans to add another 20 employees, according to the DCD press release.
The expansion will allow the company to implement three new production lines, and will include temporary rental space for another business. Spike Brewing plans to occupy the full building in the future as it continues to grow.
Spike Brewing’s goal is for the building to be 100% solar powered, according to the DCD press release.
The facility will also include a test brewery, where Spike Brewing will teach local community members about brewing beer at home.
Spike Brewing, founded in 2011 by Ben Caya, sells home brewing equipment products throughout the United States and Canada. The company’s products include brewing kettles, fermenters, brew systems, brewing pumps, electrical panels and beer chilling devices.
“We plan on expanding our product offerings, creating more jobs and hosting brewing classes to teach the local community about the best hobby they never knew existed— brewing beer at home,” said Caya.
The city’s Redevelopment Authority plans to sell Spike Brewing the nearly four-acre lot for $1.
The city of worked with the previous property owners, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to clean up contamination at the site, which is near the Milwaukee River.
The company is utilizing New Market Tax Credits, conventional financing, and Redevelopment Authority revolving loan funding to finance the project.
Approvals from the Redevelopment Authority and the Common Council will be sought in the coming weeks.
