USA, NJ: Brewery proposed for former bank in Roxbury

A Rockaway man wants to convert a former Roxbury bank building into a brewery overlooking Lake Hopatcong. If approved by the Roxbury Planning Board, the proposed Beer Bandit Brewing Company would be at 118 Lakeside Blvd. The site, in the Landing section of the township, was last used as a Fulton Bank branch at least six years ago, said Vigit Sharma, 48, the man proposing the brewery, TAPinto reported on November 8.

“I’ve lived in Morris County for more than a decade,” he said. “I’ve always visited the lake and spent many summer afternoons there. I always wondered why there wasn’t a brewery. It makes a lot of sense to have one on the lake.”

Sharma and a partner would lease the building, with an option to buy it, he said. The proposed brewery would not require a zoning variance; the planning board's main focus would be on occupancy and parking accommodation.

“I’m a beer enthusiast,” noted Sharma. “I’ve always enjoyed a good beer, and I always wanted to do something along these lines.”

He said he would be hiring a brewmaster, along with up to ten employees. The plan is to make eight to 12 beers “at any given point in time,” including three or four core beers and some seasonal selections. “We do plan to have a lot of hoppy bears,” Sharma said. “It’s going to be a good mix.”

The design of the proposed brewery was done by Ledgewood architect Kenneth Fox, who designed Czig Meister Brewing Company in Hackettstown and Double Tap Brewing in Whippany.

Fox also drew the plans for a brewery that was proposed in 2018 for the long vacant former Kenvil Roller Rink building on Route 46. That plan evaporated in 2019 when its proponents, Donna and Steve Ashton of Long Valley, said they “could not make it work” with the Gruber family, which owns the still-empty structure.

Sharma said the choice of the name Bandit Brewing Company is an attempt to “leverage” the fact that the building used to be a bank. Another local brewery, Man Skirt Brewing, occupies a former bank on Main Street in Hackettstown.

Man Skirt retained the former United Jersey Bank’s vault and uses it as a souvenir and merchandise display area. “We are going keep the vault and turn it into a cold room,” Sharma said, adding the goal is to retain the interior’s “bank-like character.”

That doesn’t extend to the bank's drive-through lanes, which will be removed.

“We’re going to re-do some aspects of the interior and the building itself, Sharma said. “The brick is going to stay. There will be a new facade, new windows and garage doors on the side that open to beer garden overlooking the lake.”

The property goes down to the Landing Channel, the southernmost tip of Lake Hopatcong. Sharma said he envisions the installation of docks on the water, sometime in the future.

Sharma wants to be open for business next spring, hoping to capitalize on summer activity at the lake, including visitors to nearby Hopatcong State Park.

The area near the site is undergoing significant change related to the upcoming replacement by Morris County of the 117-year-old Landing Road Bridge. Many structures have been razed for the project and township officials hope to see the area – which also has an NJ Transit train station - revamped into a more attractive “Landing Gateway” locale.

“That’s one of the big reasons we decided to choose this property in this area,” Sharma said. “They are re-doing the bridge, and they are going to revitalize the whole area.”

Last year, Landing resident Ariel Mizrahi failed to convince the Roxbury Township Council to support her idea of opening a cannabis store in the former Fulton Bank structure. Although these businesses have been opening in towns nearby, Roxbury's council has shown no inclination toward embracing dispensaries.

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