Hamilton considers loan to fix up city-owned building for brewery

The owners of a brewery planning to open in downtown Hamilton are asking their future landlord — the city — to pitch in for the cost to make a space used as a garage viable for operating a business.

Municipal Brew Works plans to open a craft brewery next year in space it would rent from city government at 20 High St., the city’s former municipal building.

City Council is scheduled to consider whether or not to approve a $250,000 loan for Municipal Brew Works at council's meeting Wednesday.

“The city owns the building and these are really deferred maintenance anyway that needed to happen within this structure,” said Brandon Saurber, the city’s chief of staff.

The money from the city would go to make leasehold improvements such as installing upgrades to mechanical, electrical and plumbing fixtures, said Jim Goodman, one of five owners behind the proposed craft brewery.

Municipal Brew Works’ owners have found separate, private sources of additional funding for the project, said Goodman, a Hamilton resident. The private money would help pay for additional build-out work such as opening a bar and taproom and cold storage, he said.

“The city is not financing Municipal Brew Works. What the city is doing is putting money into their asset, which is their building,” he said.

The city building at 20 High Street also houses offices of the Butler County Small Business Development Center, the small business incubator Hamilton Mill and its tenants, and TV Hamilton.

Terms of the proposed loan include a 1 percent interest rate and 16-year payback period, according to a staff report prepared for the council meeting.

It’s a win-win deal for the city and the brewery because it brings a new business downtown in a space ideally located for attracting customers from the nearby hotel, park and downtown retailers, Goodman added.

He also said it would be “extremely difficult” for the project to move forward without the financing.

“It’s important I think because it is such a historical building and the location is so perfect for us,” he said. “We’re going into a space we’re leasing, and we’re potentially funding permanent improvements we’d never be able to take with us.”

Plans to open the brewery have faced delays due partly to a long lead time on equipment orders and the building improvements needed, Goodman said.

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