USA, CA: Firestone Walker Brewing Co. to build a new warehouse in Paso Robles

Firestone Walker Brewing Co. will be building a new warehouse in a roughly $6 million expansion of its Paso Robles location on the south end of town, The San Luis Obispo Tribune reported on July 1.

The project, at 1400 Ramada Drive, Paso Robles, was green-lighted by the Paso Robles Planning Commission and does not need to go to the City Council for approval.

The expansion, which business co-founder Adam Firestone says will likely begin later this year, will add 9,000 square feet of office and warehouse space to an existing 19,500-square-foot building, a new 55,000-square-foot warehouse and 39 more parking spaces.

The projects will be constructed just north of the existing brewery.

The company hasn’t gone out to bid on the project yet, but Firestone Walker Brewing estimates the entire project will cost about $6 million.

The new 55,000-square-foot warehouse would be constructed on an undeveloped 3-acre site, just north of the brewery.

“(This) just moves some stuff indoors that (currently) sits outdoors. And otherwise adds more parking for us,” Firestone said.

The empty parcel is also a staging area for construction equipment, which will be removed from the brewery campus when the new warehouse is built, according to plans submitted to the city.

The expansion will require adding two new warehouse manager positions, which Firestone Walker Brewing said could be employees promoted from within the company. He said that promoting from within is important to him because his business “succeeds because of the quality of the locals — well educated, passionate, family centred.”

The midsized brewery was established in 1996 in Santa Barbara County and opened in Paso Robles in 2001. It also has a location in Buellton.

The planned expansion is the latest in a series of growth spurts for the brewery. In recent years, Firestone Walker Brewing has expanded its brewing operations at its site in Paso Robles.

03 July, 2015