Pigeon Hill Brewing plans $1M expansion project for 10,000-sq-ft Muskegon space

Though Pigeon Hill Brewing Co. is only as far as a signed purchase agreement on the downtown Muskegon building at 441 W. Western Avenue, Co-Owner Joel Kamp says locking in the new space was just an early opportunity at implementing a $1 million, multi-phase expansion plan by the freshman craft brewery. 

Currently located nearby at the 2,500-square-foot storefront at 500 W. Western Avenue, Kamp says he doesn't expect any kind of real production to begin in the new space for at least a year. However, at 10,000 square feet, Kamp says 441 W. Western Avenue accommodates a much larger brewing system and plans for upgraded equipment that, in its first year, will allow Pigeon Hill to quadruple production volume and eventually produce 10 times what they do now, with the intention to start hiking up its distribution capabilities. 

"When we get into this space we won’t be fully utilizing all 10,000 square feet," Kamp says. "It allows us to grow within that. Once we get in there, we’ll be able to add fermenter by fermenter by fermenter." 

Kamp says he and co-owner Chad Doane, who opened Pigeon Hill less than a year ago along with third business partner Michael Brower, always knew they wanted to expand eventually, but didn't think they would have the budget to pull it off so soon. But thanks to his CPA background, Kamp says he was able to crunch the numbers right and secure financing on the space much earlier than expected, but is still waiting on a few permitting and inspection green lights before singing anything official.  

"What we wanted to do was announce this expansion publicly so we could go to the city and start working on development incentives," he says. "We should be able to close on this thing next month."

Kamp says they considered moving operations to an industrial park outside of Muskegon, but a combination of confidence and opportunity make staying downtown a better choice for Pigeon Hill and downtown Muskegon, allowing them to draw in more foot traffic as well as have more creative control over a building they own instead of lease. 

"To be able to package in the retail area with the production area all under one roof would really help bring people downtown," Kamp says. 

By Anya Zentmeyer, Development News Editor
Images Courtesy of Pigeon Hill Brewing Co.  

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