Stratford craft brewer eyes site for expansion
STRATFORD — A longvacant Lordship industrial property could soon host a local craft brewer looking to expand locally.
Athletic Brewing Company, a pioneer in the industry of non-alcoholic beer founded in 2018, is eyeing 495 Lordship Blvd. to ramp up production and distribution operations.
The company has 43 full-time employees about a mile away at its current home on Long Beach Boulevard, Chief Operating Officer Jamie Lissette told town officials last week — and are looking to hire up to 100 more.
Athletic would remain at its original location as well, Lissette said during a recent meeting of the town’s Tax Partnership Screening
Committee, which consists of three Town Council members and one representative each from the Economic Development Commission and Stratford Redevelopment Agency.
The company is looking to be up and running in the new facility by the first quarter of next year.
Lissette ballparked Athletic’s total expansion plans at $30 million.
“We already have $6 million of equipment on order that we need to place some place,” he said.
The roughly 19-acre property between Honeyspot Road and Long Beach Boulevard was formerly the location of a chemical plant owned by Mobil Oil Corp. that was vacant since 2007 and eventually demolished.
The land was sold for $5.5 million last December, according to town land records.
The Zoning Commission approved of the reuse of the property last year.
On Monday the site teemed with activity, covered with raw materials, construction equipment and workers.
Brian Poitras, director of capital markets for the property developer, Boston-based GFI Partners, said his company has a nonbinding letter of intent with Athletic to take up more than half of the new building, and also has feelers out to a Massachusetts tire distributor.
He called the location close to Interstate 95 “irreplaceable.”
The developer and Athletic Brewing are looking to strike a deal with the town for a partial abatement of property taxes for the next several years to make the development more economically viable.
The Tax Partnership Screening Committee is scheduled to meet again at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The Town Council would have the final say on any deal.
Lissette said the Stratford property is more expensive compared to other potential sites in North Carolina and Philadelphia, but that the company wants to stay in Stratford.
“Being around the corner from where we are, keeping our teammates in town is really important to us,” he said.
Poitras said there are other potential tenants interested as well.
Randy Vidal, a member of the Stratford Redevelopment Agency who sits on the tax abatement committee, said during last week’s meeting he’s been impressed with the work done there so far.
“Once the steel goes up you’re going to get even more interest,” he said.