Planning Director Liz Hayden said when they submitted their requests for building permits, they also needed to go through the formal planning process. The preliminary and final plans are typically separate processes, but Hayden said “because they already had such detailed drawings, they’re doing both processes at the same time.”
The project is a reconstruction of the former Pepsi bottling plant at 850 S. Erie Blvd. (Ohio 4), which is less than a mile from the Ohio 4 intersection with High Street. Third Eye Brewing co-owners Tom Collins and Tom Schaefer plan to open sometime in 2023, though without a hard opening date yet, have said, “as soon as absolutely possible.”
The plan is to open a 28,000-square-foot brewpub and brewery, which also includes a tap room. Collins said the need for this second location is because they are running out of space at their Sharonville brewery on Chester Road.
“For us, there’s a lot of demand, and we don’t have a lot of supply, so as soon as we can get up and start producing in a larger production facility, the better it is for us,” told the Journal-News Collins in July.
According to the submitted plans, the taproom and restaurant on Erie Boulevard will be 13,000 square feet as part of the overall brewpub. There will be a 1,200-square-foot outdoor porch addition that will be accessible from the brewpub.
Third Eye Brewing’s Hamilton location will also have 61 parking spaces, 33 of which will be in a parking lot. Crawford Avenue would accommodate the additional 28 spaces as on-street parking, but the plan is to convert Crawford Avenue into a one-way street.
There will be 15,000 square feet dedicated for warehousing as part of a second future tenant.
Hamilton’s planning commission approved the plan earlier this month.
The brewery project, which was publicly announced at the midterm State of the City address in May, has received previous support from City Council.
In September, City Council approved a resolution that would provide the developer, 850 Associates LLC, with a 10-year, 75% abatement of real property tax liability. Third Eye Brewing anticipates creating six full-time and 25 part-time jobs within three years of opening, with an annual payroll of $925,000, according to the resolution.
Council also gave the project more space ― about 4,600 feet ― by vacating a portion of Safe Avenue in front of the building.
The total project is estimated to cost about $4 million, according to city documents.
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