Looking for a beer-heavy market for your next vacation? Head to the Windy City. According to a national market study by Colliers, Chicago ranked first among 29 markets, with a 69.5% growth rate in craft breweries between 2013 and 2014, and a total of 1.6M SF in brewery construction. The highest-profile brewery to open in Chicago in that time frame: Lagunitas' 300k SF facility in Douglas Park (pictured), built in a former Reyerson steel plant. The metro isn't slowing down; check out these five local breweries that are building new brew houses.
Brewers are finding good value in old industrial spaces passed on by other commercial real estate users, and nearly all of the breweries delivered during this time are adaptive reuse projects. The Chicago area has 144 breweries, with another 39 planned. With companies like Half Acre (shown) expanding in Bowmanville, Colliers predicts this will affect future industrial rents in the city.
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