USA, CO: Avery Brewing Co. gets approval to build a new brewery in Boulder

Avery Brewing Co. has received Boulder Planning Board approval to build a brewery, restaurant and tap room at 4910 Nautilus Court, Colorado Daily reports.

The $27 million, 95,922-square-foot project, which will also include a gift shop and offices, has been in the planning stages for nearly a year and a half, the company said. It will be the largest brewery in a city well known for its craft brewers.

"It's been a long time coming," Avery Brewing Co. president Adam Avery said.

The Planning Board unanimously approved the project on May, 16, which Avery officials say is necessary because their production needs have outgrown the building at 5763 Arapahoe Ave.

Board members praised the project while offering input on details such as landscaping and architectural design for the building's entryway.

Members including Sam Weaver said the entryway, with its high archway, looked too grandiose for the building's character. They offered the comments as pointers instead of making a change to the entryway a condition of the plan's approval.

"The project is so much better than anything out there right now," Weaver said. "We're just talking about the final tweaks on what's already a really, really good plan."

Joe Brooker, trustee for the Boulder Country Day School, which neighbors the 5.2-acre Avery site, spoke at the meeting. After clearing up concerns about Avery delivery trucks traveling down Nautilus Drive - they will instead access the brewery via 63rd Street - Brooker said the company has been a pleasure to deal with.

"They have done a tremendous job of addressing the concerns we have," Brooker said.

He did ask that the brewing company refrain from using its eastern parking lot for special events in an effort to keep alcohol consumption as far from the school as possible. With Adam Avery's support, that request became a condition of the plan's approval.

No one commented on the height of the brewery's fermentation tanks, which, at nearly 55 feet tall, did require a zoning variance.

Company officials will now begin working out the finer points of the plan, Avery said, and the project could break ground as soon as August.

18 May, 2012