USA, NJ: Brick City Brewing Company eyeing location in Newark

When thinking of breweries in Newark, the massive Anheuser-Busch plant on Routes 1 and 9 likely comes to mind or perhaps the relatively recent All Points West Distillery in the Ironbound. The city was also once home to a Pabst Blue Ribbon brewery in the West Ward, the Ballantine Brewing Company in the East Ward, and several other beer production plants. Now, a Downtown Newark building that was constructed back in the heyday of Newark’s brewing industry could soon possibly be home to a small brewery itself, the Jersey Digs reported on March 21.

A firm called the Brick City Brewing Company has applied to the New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control for a “limited brewing license” to be used at 540 Broad Street, according to a legal notice that was issued in February. Located opposite Washington Park, the address in question contains the former New Jersey Bell Headquarters Building, which is in the process of being converted by L+M Development Partners into the Walker House development with stores, apartments, and office space.

However, few details are known about the proposed Brick City Brewing Company. The notice mentions that the business is expected to include a retail showroom and that the sole corporate stockholder of the firm is Stephen Hughes of Montclair. State business filings show that a company called Brick City Brewing, LLC was registered out of Upper Montclair last September. Meanwhile, a new website that is still in the process of being developed is advertising a business called “Bell House Brewing” that is slated to open in the building in 2020, describing the facility as “Newark’s first modern day craft brewery and taproom.”

Assuming that the Brick City Brewing Company ends up moving into the Walker House project as the firm is currently seeking to do, they would join a rock climbing gym that is already slated to occupy a significant portion of the building’s retail space, according to a listing from Pierson Commercial Real Estate that we first told you about last month. The name of the rock climbing facility has yet to be revealed. In addition, Senator Cory Booker’s presidential campaign headquarters will occupy part of the office space, according to NJ Advance Media.

22 March, 2019