A burgeoning number of craft breweries are flocking to industrial and semi-industrial areas as traditional manufacturers and distributors move out to suburban industrial areas, according to Colliers International.
In Colliers’ recent report The Rise of Craft Breweries in Metro Vancouver, the real estate firm counted 10 new breweries that opened in B.C. in 2013, pushing the number of operating breweries in the province to 78 at the end of 2013.
The real estate firm expects at least seven more breweries to open in 2014 – mostly in industrial and semi-industrial areas.
“In Vancouver and North Vancouver, a lot of the manufacturing and distributors, who have been in the area, have moved out to the suburbs,” said Colliers associate Matt Smith, who helped compile the report.
“They’ve gone to Fraser Valley, Surrey, Langley and even Delta and Richmond, where there are more efficient buildings with higher ceilings, more power, a bigger truck-turning radius and more parking for their employees.”
Smith explained to Business in Vancouver that breweries are filling the void in the Mount Pleasant, False Creek Flats and Strathcona areas because of nearby condo development and densification.
Mark James Group, for example, is building a new Red Truck Brewery on land in the False Creek Flats at 315 East First Avenue.
That’s just east of where Onni plans to build 209 condominiums as part of a development it calls Canvas. Presales for that project are set to launch later this month, Onni vice-president of sales Nic Jensen told BIV.
City of Vancouver general manager of planning Brian Jackson stressed to BIV that no more condominiums are permitted for the False Creek Flats, which is an area bounded by Clark Drive, Great Northern Way, Main Street and Prior Avenue.
Significant condominium development, however, is taking place nearby in the Olympic Village area and between West Second Avenue and False Creek.
Big Rock Brewery announced March 3 that it plans to open on West Fourth Avenue near Alberta Street later this year.
Other breweries in Mount Pleasant include 33 Acres, Brassneck and R&B Brewing.
