How to choose a brewery?
Brewery is a complex business operation, especially with a restaurant. Assuming that most new breweries will brew beer in on-site restaurants and provide beer to the public, the challenge is to find a space suitable for wholesale beverage manufacturing, wholesale distribution centers and retail bars / restaurants.
1. Brewery Needs
2. Restaurant Needs
3. Location and Zoning
4. Leasing Considerations
5. Brewery Equipment Choose
Brewery Needs
Public Utility
With regard to commercial space, we suggest that the first thing is to immediately determine the size of water, sewer, power and gas supplies entering the plant (or at least the building). Breweries need a large number of these utilities and upgrading can be very expensive. It is important to understand these facts about space before submitting an offer.
View these utility requirements from a specific mechanical system. In general, the diameter of the water main shall be at least 2 inches and the diameter of the water main shall be at least 4 inches. In a building with multiple tenants, the water supply for each unit may be less than the water main of the building. However, as long as the building's water main is large enough, the cost of laying new water pipes from the building's water main is dwarfed, so install a larger water main for the whole building (for example, US $50000 for one new water main and US $100000-50000 for the other)
Tip: if the building has an automatic sprinkler system installed, the water supply and sewer supply of the building is likely to be sufficient.
Upgrading gas supply is usually not so expensive, and we find that most commercial buildings often have enough gas supply. Unless you are planning an all electric small brewery (10 bbl or less), you will use a lot of natural gas in steam boilers or kettle burners.
Three phase power supply is the preferred power supply for brewing equipment. This provides a more stable current for motors such as pumps and rakes. The current of breweries alone should be at least 200-400 amps. Our initial expansion required the installation of 800 amps in 9000 square feet of brewery and restaurant space. Small brewing systems may not use single-phase power sources, but most equipment manufacturers will need three-phase power sources.
Most industrial buildings can use such a high-power power supply, although it may not be installed on the building. Even if neighboring tenants in the building already own the service, you may still need to run a new 3-phase service for your unit. We finally found out this. Frustrating. Depending on the distance of the building from the nearest three-phase power grid, the cost of upgrading power may be between $5k and $50k.
Fire fighting
Some local regulations require breweries to be equipped with fire extinguishing systems. If you plan to have a restaurant and want it to be an open-air brewery, you usually have to have an automatic sprinkler system.
If there is no sprinkler system, a firewall is needed to separate the brewery from the restaurant. This is because fire regulations depend on your organization's occupancy classification. Restaurants and breweries have different occupied spaces, so they have different fire protection requirements. Like any space that depends on occupancy, the space with the highest occupancy wins (when you see "high occupancy", please consider "high cost" and "high regulation")
Avoid looking at buildings without sprinkler systems unless you have a huge budget or the owner will add one. The installation cost of these devices is high, about $2-3 per square foot. They may also require a large number of water and sewage mains upgrades, which are not included in this cost.
Loading dock
Although not necessary, it is helpful to have access to the loading dock. In addition to all equipment delivered during installation, breweries often receive materials. If the dock is not available, a free door and forklift is enough.
If the building has a shared loading dock, verify the actual usage between current tenants and whether there are any restrictions on its usage time.
Tip: carefully consider your actual delivery and receipt needs. If your space does not have its own dock, how will this affect the labor required to move materials further?
2. Restaurant demand
Restroom
The restaurant has a higher occupancy rate, so it needs more toilet cubicles (guess, this means higher construction cost). For example, our restaurant will have fewer than 200 people, but our local regulations require three stalls for men and three stalls for women.
Unless you are considering the previous high occupancy space, you may have to build more / larger toilets. The design of industrial and warehouse buildings is not suitable for high occupancy, so there are few toilet facilities.
Tip: large mixed use (warehouse + Office) buildings sometimes have public toilets of sufficient size for building tenants to share. This is a big bonus if it is easy to access your user space and fully completed.
Parking
With the improvement of restaurant occupancy rate, the requirements for parking are becoming higher and higher. Local regulations vary greatly depending on specific parking requirements, depending on how your organization is classified. Even if the local code does not require too many dedicated roadside parking, consider how your location will affect customers to drive to the lounge. If the parking lot in your area is always insufficient and most people are driving, customers may start to avoid patronizing.
Tip: even if a multi tenant building seems to have a large number of parking spaces, all parking spaces may have been assigned to existing tenants by code according to the business type and occupancy rate of existing tenants. According to local regulations, increasing the occupancy rate of one unit may actually lead to insufficient parking spaces.
Accessibility
As a retail enterprise open to the public, please pay attention to the regulations of the American Association for persons with disabilities (ADA) on how persons with disabilities must enter your organization. This has an impact on the design of toilets, the height of order / pick-up counters, parking spaces and the number of accessible entrances and exits.
Tip: if the entrance and exit are not on the ground, it may be necessary to install ADA compliant ramps and / or elevators.
3. Location and zoning
Usually, breweries are only allowed to produce in industrial areas, but some cities are beginning to relax these regulations. Similar to typical restaurants, bars that do not sell beer are sometimes allowed in traditional business districts.
Before you start searching for buildings, understand the local zoning regulations. Sometimes a zoning exemption can be obtained from the city, but it is usually a long application process, coupled with a public hearing. If possible, it is best to stick to the area where the brewery has been allowed.
Tip: contact the district or planning office in the area directly to verify that the building is located in an area that allows your brewery type without special exemption.
4. Lease considerations
Landlord attitude
It's best to find a house conducive to the landlord of the brewery. We find that building owners are usually divided into four categories:
The winery tenant will not be considered under any circumstances.
A brewery will be allowed, but not a restaurant (usually only considering the responsibility of the public to drink in the place).
There's a brewery and restaurant (hey, if you're willing to pay, they're willing to rent).
Super eager to own a brewery / restaurant tenant (more help will be provided).
After experiencing all these types, we like 4 best and find that our current landlord is like this. You will make major changes to their buildings and need their help more than you might think, so it is important to have a landlord who supports your business and responds to your requirements.
Tip: treat the landlord as a business partner - what qualities are important to you?
Rental rates and expenses
We'll post a more detailed article on leasing later, but here are some basics. Commercial lease rates are usually structured in one of the following ways:
Total rent = total rent, including the lessee's share of building operating expenses and property tax (usually including utilities)
Triple net rent (also known as revised total rent) = triple net rent, including (1) basic rent; (2) lessee's share in property operating expenses; and (3) lessee's share in building property tax.
Hotel operating expenses are usually abbreviated as "cam" or "public area management"
Unlike residential leases, commercial lease prices are usually expressed per square foot per year. That's what business brokers mean when they say the price is $x per foot. To calculate the monthly fee, multiply the rate by the total square feet and divide by 12 months.
Tenant improvement (TI)
Because enterprises have many unique real estate needs and often sign multi-year leases, owners of retail or mixed use buildings usually provide credit for some or all of the expansion costs. Some landlords even have their own construction teams to carry out construction on behalf of the lessee.
Some landlords provide Ti loans, which constitute lease payments. If the interest rate and conditions are competitive with traditional bank loans, it is usually a good way for enterprises to finance expansion.
Tip: the cheaper the rent and the shorter the term, the less likely the landlord is to provide Ti credit or loan. Ti credit is usually negotiated rather than advertised as a specific amount, such as "will be constructed as needed".
1. Brewery Equipment Choose
For a brewery, the equipment choose is very important. Below are several points is my suggestion:
(1) Your budget for the whole project.
(2) The site size, different capacity equipment need different size. Your equipment need to be suitable to your layout.
The capacity of the brewery. You need calculate the beer capacity according to population, consumption level, and volume of commuters, so choose a more suitable brewery equipment.