The Haines Brewing Company has signed a contract with the Haines Borough for purchase of 20,000 square feet of Main Street property.
The assembly voted 5-1 at its Aug. 26 meeting to approve the sale of the property. Assembly member George Campbell cast the lone dissenting vote.
Brewery co-owner Jeanne Kitayama said construction will likely start this month. “Hopefully October by the time all that paperwork goes through,” she said.
Co-owner Paul Wheeler and Kitayama agreed to pay $4.33 per square foot for the property, totaling $86,600. The building will sit on the south side of Main Street, next to the new Aspen Hotel, currently under construction.
The couple initially negotiated a reduction in taxes with manager David Sosa, giving the brewery a 50 percent reduction in property taxes for the first year, a 30 percent reduction for the second year and a 25 percent reduction for the third year.
Though Sosa asked the assembly to approve the incentives, the assembly declined to do so. Instead, the assembly voted to establish an economic incentive program that would apply broadly and relieve the borough of having to negotiate individual incentives every time a business comes to town.
The program is still being worked on by the assembly’s Commerce Committee, though the assembly agreed the brewery would be “pre-approved” for the program’s incentives once they are officially established.
“All in all, it’s not a huge savings, but we would appreciate it,” said Kitayama of the original agreement. “It’s a few thousand dollars in savings.”
The brewery isn’t going to double as a restaurant, like the Skagway Brewing Co, but will probably serve snacks. Kitayama said she is looking at collaborating with local businesses to bring food to the brewery.
“We’re not going to have a kitchen, but we do want people to eat if they are going to drink,” Kitayama said.
There will be an outdoor beer garden, she said.
The business still needs to adhere to strict laws governing consumption, hours and activities they can have on the premises. There can be no seats at the bar, no television, no live music, no dancing and no gaming.
“It’s very restrictive. We’re not a bar. We’re a brewery,” Kitayama said.
Each patron can consume only 36 ounces of beer on the premises per day. Kitayama said she expects the new facility to be open by spring.