Though Florida still lags behind other states, the craft brewing business has been rapidly growing within the past decade. According to the Brewers Association, there are 151 craft breweries in Florida as of 2016, 11th most in the United States, but only 43rd per capita. When considering the scale of the craft brewery industry’s economic impact, one must consider that economic activity is generated through production, distribution, retail sales, capital investments and job creation at all levels as well as real estate investment-related activities. Added together, the activities generated from small and independent craft brewers accounted for more than a $2 billion economic impact in the state of Florida in 2014 according to the Brewers Association.
The industry in Florida was once dominated by mid-sized regional breweries until the 1950s, when national macrobreweries began to build their own facilities in the state and gradually bought up most of the existing small and middle-sized breweries. That trend changed significantly in 2001 when state laws were modified to make it easier to operate a craft brewery in Florida. In a market once dominated by a few major producers, now roughly two-thirds of the state’s craft brewers produce less than 500 barrels of beer annually. Today’s craft beer entrepreneur operates in a growing, cottage industry, supporting a share of the local economic ecosystem that is growing ever larger with each passing year.
For a commercial area like Springfield’s Main Street, which has long struggled to reproduce the vibrant scenes filled with bustling commerce that once defined the thoroughfare, the craft beer industry offers a real opportunity to redevelop long blighted properties.
Mission Brewery operates a 2,500 sq. ft. tasting room inside a 25,000 square foot brewing facility in downtown San Diego, breathing new life into the Historic Wonder Bread Building in the East Village. Image Credit: Mission Brewery.
In Ohio, after the passage of legislation allowing breweries to operate tap rooms within their space without purchasing an additional license, breweries throughout Ohio have acted as a catalyst for economic development and rehabilitation of many urban and suburban neighborhoods. Today there are 156 craft breweries in Ohio, which account for the absorption of over 1.7 million square feet of commercial space according to the commercial real estate brokerage firm CBRE.
Mission Brewery is one of more than 100 breweries, microbreweries, and brewpubs operating in San Diego County. Four San Diego County breweries rank among the 50 largest craft brewers in the United States. Image Credit: Mission Brewery.
CBRE also found that since new legislation was passed in 2011, the Minneapolis craft brewery market jumped from two breweries before the new law to 45 breweries today, occupying over 500,000 square feet of real estate. By the end of the year, it is expected that another 14 breweries/taprooms will open absorbing another 70,000 square feet of commercial space.
Image Credit: Colliers International
Want more proof of the craft beer industry’s impact on real estate? Colliers International recently published a report that found that Chicago is the country’s craft beer capital, with an estimated footprint of 1.6 million square feet of total craft brewery space, followed by Philadelphia (1.5 million square feet); Portland, Oregon (1.4 million square feet); San Diego (1.1 million square feet); and Denver (1.0 million square feet). Charlotte, North Carolina, had the largest year-over-year growth rate from 2013 to 2014 at 77 percent.
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