E-Malt.com News article: Canada, ON: Brock Street Brewing owners raising their glasses to celebrate expansion

It’s not exactly what they had envisioned, but owners of Brock Street Brewing Company in Whitby, Ontario are raising their glasses to celebrate the expansion of their business, durhamregion.com reported on October 29.

Whitby lawyer Mark Woitzik and his partners recently secured the property at the northwest corner of Brock and Dunlop streets for the purpose of developing an upscale microbrewery and restaurant in the heart of the downtown.

“We’re going to be building about a 13,000-square-foot brewery on two levels and an amazing sort of Bavarian-style, really high-end restaurant above it,” said Mr. Woitzik, co-owner of the Brock Street Brewing Co., along with Victor Leone, Scott Pepin, and Chris Vanclief.

“It’s all coming together and we’re really excited.”

The group of friends originally had its sights set on purchasing the old fire hall building, which has sat vacant at Brock and Colborne streets since 2004. They approached the Town early last year with their vision for the development, which they said would assist in council’s goal to revitalize the downtown core and draw more people to the area.

While both council and staff were receptive to the idea, the matter quickly became tangled in red tape as the Town reviewed its process for dealing with unsolicited proposals to acquire municipal properties. This past summer, the Town put out a call to the building and development industry and all other interested parties, inviting formal proposals for redevelopment of the fire hall, as well as surrounding lands.

“Throughout the summer and after last year’s (municipal) election, the Town proposed a much greater vision for that area, including the redevelopment of not only the fire hall, but all adjoining parking lots as well,” said Mr. Woitzik.

While he and his business partners fully support Whitby’s vision to redevelop the firehall area on a larger scale, he added they also know it’s going to take time, and the group looked elsewhere to launch the business.

“It’s going to be stunning because it’s going to do exactly what we need for downtown; it’s just going to be probably (a few years) too late for us ... by that point, we’ll already need more space.”

Brock Street Brewing Co. opened its first location at 1501 Hopkins St., Whitby in April and Mr. Woitzik said they were overwhelmed by the community response. With the rising popularity of craft beer across Durham and the entire province, thousands of customers are flocking to the location, thirsty for something new.

“Business is growing like crazy,” he explained. “The sales growth has been going really well and a lot of restaurants have picked us up.”

Since the opening, sales have increased by 20 to 30 per cent monthly, said Mr. Woitzik. People are coming from all over the region and from as far as other parts of Canada and even the United States.

“Many people are tourists that have friends in the area ... everybody is excited about all-natural craft beer,” he said.

“Beer is the new wine. People are so excited about sampling all the different products that are available and really enjoyed the fresh taste of real craft beer.”

Brock Street Brewing Co. is currently working on submitting a zoning application to the Town for the development and hoping to kick off construction by next spring.

Whitby Mayor Don Mitchell said a brewery would serve as “a great asset” to the downtown by contributing to the economic vibrancy of the area.

“It’s a wonderful use of that corner ... it’s a high-profile corner and it’s been through multiple uses over time but nothing’s really stuck,” he said, noting the success of the Old Flame Brewing Co. in downtown Port Perry.

“A craft brewing operation in the downtown, I think, will support exactly all the things we want to do down there.”

The craft brewing market has more than doubled since 2002 and continues to be the fastest-growing LCBO beer segment, with annual sale increases of 20 to 30 per cent, according to the Ontario Craft Brewers association. Currently, there are about 130 operating breweries in Ontario, and another few dozen contract brewers -- both of which receive manufacturing licences from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario.

Small brewers in Ontario have created thousands of jobs and invested tens of millions of dollars into the economy. As of 2014, there were more than 1,400 direct brewery jobs and more than 56,000 indirect jobs. The broader economic impact of small breweries is estimated to be at least C$600 million annually.

The Brock Street Brewing Co. wants to establish a high-end microbrewery and restaurant at the northwest corner of Brock and Dunlop streets. According to the group’s business plan, a brewery in the downtown would meet the growing demand for craft beer, as demonstrated by rising sales across Ontario, and provide much-needed employment and tourist opportunities in the area.


30 October, 2015