Samuel Adams expansion contingent on brownfields grant

Cincinnati City Council has passed two ordinances that will bring Samuel Adams Brewery Company's $4 million West End expansion closer to fruition.

The ordinances approve a contract for sale of City property for redevelopment and a purchase option agreement for City right-of-way at 1654 Central Avenue and a parcel at 1660 Central Avenue, respectively, contingent upon the City's receipt of a $3 million Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund (CORF) grant.

The property at 1654 Central Avenue, which has been assessed at $30,500, would be sold for $1. The sale of 1660 Central Avenue was approved in late April.

Samuel Adams has long coveted the contaminated property, which is part of the much larger Providence North Redevelopment Area, a mostly-vacant brownfield site centered located in the vicinity of Central Avenue and Findlay Street.

Under the terms of the agreement, the City would retain ownership of the parcels while the company uses the CORF funding for remediation activities through the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency's (Ohio EPA) Voluntary Action Program.

Once remediation is complete, the City would submit a No Further Action letter to the Ohio EPA, which, if approved, would result in the issuance of a Covenant Not to Sue, releasing the City and Samuel Adams from any future liability resulting from the site's contamination. The company would then complete the property purchase.

Samuel Adams already has invested more than $1.8 million in the site.

A wholly-owned local subsidiary of Boston Beer Company, Samuel Adams Brewery Company has been at the former Hudepohl-Schoenling Brewery since 1997. The last major expansion of the plant occurred in 2005.

The expansion would allow the company to add outdoor barrel storage and delivery truck staging, retaining approximately 100 jobs in the neighborhood.

Previous reading on BC:
City approves property purchase for Samuel Adams expansion (5/4/10)
Providence North brownfield gets capital account (11/18/09)
Capital account could be created for Providence North (11/3/09)
ODOD awards $282K grant for West End site assessment (10/5/09)