Surly buys Mpls. site for "destination brewery"

It's official: Surly is coming to Minneapolis.

The Brooklyn Center-based craft brewer confirmed Monday afternoon that they had purchased a site in the Prospect Park neighborhood, where they will build their much-anticipated, $20 million "destination brewery."

The facility will be unlike anything in Minnesota, replete with a brewery, beer hall and beer garden. It was the primary driver of a 2011 law that allowed brewers to sell beer on-site, which has spurred a brewing revival in Minneapolis neighborhoods.

The 8.3 acre site is located at the corner of Malcolm Avenue and Fifth Street SE. It is just north of what will eventually become the Central Corridor light rail's "Westgate" station.

Tom Hauschild, a real estate consultant for the company, said the site is ideal because it is properly zoned, large enough to accommodate growth, and close to light rail and bike trails.

The site was last used as a food processing plant. But earlier uses contributed significant pollution, which the company says needs to be fixed.

Surly applied for $2.5 million in environmental remediation grants, eventually winning about $2 million. They are seeking another $500,000 county loan for transit oriented development.

The timeline remains tentative, Hauschild said, but "let's just say we're hopeful we're brewing beer at the new location in 2014."

The new brewery is meant to expand on, rather than replace, the Brooklyn Center location, which will remain operating for the foreseeable future.