UPDATE (11/18, 10 am): The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey did not vote on Brooklyn Brewery’s lease proposal on Thursday, Nov. 17 as expected. The resolution was tabled at their monthly meeting.
Move over, Angry Orchard. Orange County may soon welcome another power-playing alcoholic purveyor, and it plans on brewing up some serious bucks.
Brooklyn Brewery, the 12th-largest craft brewery in the United States, has eyes set on an 18.9-acre stretch of vacant land at the Stewart Airport Industrial Park, according to a blog post on their website. The location, situated right off Route 17K in Newburgh, offers plenty of room to construct a 250,000-square-foot brewery and warehouse, inclusive of both a visitor and retail center that could be expanded to 350,000 square-feet.
Unlike for most Brooklyn transplants, the move upstate won’t come cheap. According to The Times Herald-Record, the brewery is expected to spend $80 million on the plant alone. Upon plan approval by the Port Authority, the brewery would pay an additional $30.1 million in site ground rental for a 60-year lease.
But before you get in line for an ice-cold Sorachi Ace farmhouse saison or a piney Scorcher IPA, plans are still under consideration. Over the past two years, Brooklyn Brewery has been looking at various other New York locations with intent to expand. Competing locations include two Staten Island spots, offering easy access to shipping ports. A decision may come soon, though. In a blog post, the company’s co-owner and CEO Eric Ottaway wrote, “We anticipate making our final choice of location by the end of this year.”
So while we may not be popping bottles just yet, we’ll keep you updated on potential activity in the coming weeks.