Calgary-based Big Rock Brewery just announced plans to open a brewpub in trendy Liberty Village, aiming to turn Toronto on to its 40 varieties of beer, most unavailable here. (The real hard part: coming up with 40 clever beer names.)
Big Rock had been “circling the area” looking for a space with character that fits its brand, says Ashlar Urban Realty’s Brandon Gorman (right, with Ashlar colleague and partner on the deal, Graham Smith). They found it at 60 Atlantic Ave, a turn-of-the-century brick and beam building that owner Hullmark Developments has given a complete retrofit. Big Rock is opening its brewpub in a 7.4k SF location on the ground floor, which includes a 3k SF patio facing Atlantic that Brandon says is "unmatched" in Liberty Village. (A second, 3 Brewers brewpub is under construction just down the street at 99 Atlantic Ave.)
Big Rock plans to be open in early to mid-2015. This is the company’s second venture outside Alberta; it's building a new brewery and restaurant in Vancouver. The 60 Atlantic Ave location—at Atlantic Avenue and Liberty Street in the heart of Liberty Village—will give the brewer an opportunity to showcase its beer varieties to a market into which “very few have found their way,” notes Big Rock CEO Bob Sartor.
A pic of the 60 Atlantic patio. The building's other tenant, Invivo Communications—a digital solutions provider to the pharmaceutical and medical device industry, occupies the 14.5k SF top floor. (Nothing goes better together than alcohol and medical devices.) Brandon tells us the Ashlar team has a "firm deal" for the remaining 12k SF, with details coming soon. Hullmark president Jeff Hull could be the happiest party in the Big Rock deal. “From day one he thought this was a perfect spot for a micro-brewery,” Brandon says.
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