USA, MI: Pigeon Hill Brewing inching closer in its plans of building new brewery in Muskegon

Pigeon Hill Brewing Co. is inching closer to finalizing its plans to build a brand new $1.5 million production facility in downtown Muskegon, MLive.com reported on September 26.

Pigeon Hill was the sole entity to enter a bid to build on a 4.5-acre city owned parking lot located at the corner of Shoreline and Terrace Point drives, said Planning Manager Mike Franzak.

The sale of the property to Pigeon Hill is on the Muskegon City Commission's meeting agenda for Tuesday, Sept. 26.

If approved, some of the work will be completed by the end of 2018.

Commissioners are offering up a portion of the 38,550-square-foot lot - dubbed "Sub Parcel 1" - for $20,000. The sale agreement includes an option to buy another "sub parcel" on the same lot at the corner of Shoreline and Fourth Street for an additional $20,000 if Pigeon Hill needs the space.

Franzak estimated the entire parcel as having a "true cash value" of $56,000.

Pigeon Hill co-owner Michael Brower told MLive on September 25 that he hopes commissioners favor the expansion.

"(We're) hoping for a favorable result and that the city decides along the lines of allowing Pigeon Hill to invest in Downtown Muskegon," Brower said.

"We certainly don't pretend to know what they are thinking or how they'll act, but we have faith that they have the city's best interest in mind no matter what they decide."

Commissioners had planned to sell the lot to Pigeon Hill outright on Aug. 22, but later pulled the pending resolution to seek other proposals, said City Manager Frank Peterson.

One month later, Pigeon Hill stands alone as the only company interested in the Shoreline Drive lot, Franzak said.

City officials required Pigeon Hill to issue a formal letter with a description of the proposal, references and a $7,500 security deposit to Franzak by Sept. 19.

The formal proposal also includes new details of the project, including a tentative development timeline for the entire, $2.5 million three-phase project.

Pigeon Hill's proposal includes:

The purchase the Shoreline Drive property, which has an actual address of 895 Fourth St., with the option to buy the other sub-parcels.

Construct a 15,000 square-foot, multi-use building on the Shoreline Drive property, split between 12,000 square feet for a manufacturing space and 3,000 square feet for office space by the end of 2018.

Move production from 441 W. Western Ave. to Shoreline Drive, also by the end of 2018.

Develop a new multi-story taproom at 441 W. Western, and close the existing taproom in leased space at 500 W. Western by 2021.

Build a 30,000 square-foot addition on the Fourth Street "Sub-Parcel 2" if business growth necessitates another expansion. Any work on the final addition is tentatively planned to begin between 2022 and 2027, if necessary.

The proposal estimates a $6.5 million investment into the Muskegon community, creating 55 new jobs in the process.

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