USA, OK: Prairie Artisan Ales coming to Edmond

A new brewery and taproom is coming to Edmond through a public-private partnership designed to increase activity at the downtown Festival Market Place, The Journal Report said on May 27.

The city-owned plaza – located along First Street just east of the railroad tracks – hosts the Edmond Farmer’s Market on Saturdays from April through October and occasional community events but has no consistent programming or activities.

City leaders decided last fall to seek a private partner to open a business at the site to increase activity there, especially in the evenings.

The City Council approved this month a ground lease with Lap 7 Development for a roughly 5,000-square-foot parcel where a storage shed is located. The shed will come down and the site will become home to a second Prairie Artisan Ales taproom. The company has operated a taproom in Oklahoma City’s Automobile Alley since 2017.

Krebs Brewing Co., owned and operated by fourth-generation brewer Zach Prichard, brews Prairie Artisan Ales and Choc Beer Co. products at its location in McAlester.

“It’s an Oklahoma brewery with a national brand,” said Andy Conyers, Edmond’s assistant city manager for administration. “It’s exciting to bring something like this to downtown that will add to all the momentum that’s currently occurring downtown.”

The developer has until Jan. 1 to begin construction on the 4,200-square-foot taproom and brewery and 12 months from that date to complete construction.

Brandon Lodge, owner of Lap 7 Development, said it should be open in late 2024 or early 2025. Lodge, an Edmond native, developed The Icehouse Project just west of The Festival Market Place that includes the American Solera brewery and taproom.

“I am very excited about the momentum that’s going on in downtown Edmond,” Lodge said. “It’s the hottest district in the metro area, which is shocking to say.”

Local business owners and operators “continue to be what drives the engine, keeps that momentum going,” he said.

Greg Powell, general manager at Prairie Artisan Ales in Oklahoma City, will split his time between the two locations when the Edmond taproom opens.

“I’m glad to see the city help companies like us and help develop downtown Edmond,” Powell said.

Prairie Artisan Ales will lie between American Solera to the west and Frenzy Brewing Co., 15 S. Broadway, Edmond’s first brewery, creating an “ale trail.”

“Three is a perfect number. People treat local craft beer as a fun experience,” Powell said. “They make an afternoon of it. It helps boost everyone’s sales.”

Prairie Artisan Ales will sell its popular stouts and heavily-fruited sour ales – beer that Powell said taste nothing like beer – along with lagers, IPAs, pilsners, wine and non-alcoholic beverages.

“Every week we release one to three new beers,” Powell said. “It scratches the creative itch.”

Allford Hall Monaghan Morris is the project architect. Building Culture will construct the brewery using mass wall masonry, a once-popular method used for many older buildings in the region, Lodge said. “They are built to last,” he said.

The initial term of the ground lease is 25 years, with five additional five-year options. The annual lease rate beginning Nov. 1 is $12,750 for the first five years and will increase with each subsequent five-year period.

“Whenever the lease is up … this will become an asset of the city,” Conyers said. “So, we’re very intentional not on what this is today but that is it built to last.”

28 May, 2023