Thurston County Economic Development Director Dennis Matson tells GlobeSt.com his agency will work with the team to find a buyer for the 72-acre property but that the process won't really get underway until Miller completes negotiations with the union regarding severance for brewery employees. Matson says the latest estimate is negotiations will be completed in the next 10 days or so.
"They've asked that when I get leads or contacts that I believe are substantive to have those folks provide a short letter to Miller to identify themselves and their idea for the property," says Matson. "Miller from that is creating an A list to which they will send out some sort of an offering memorandum."
Matson says he already has referred a few folks interested in acquiring the brewery for redevelopment, "but locally we are anxious to find another user who can replace the lost jobs." Matson says there is little chance another brewer would take over the plant, but there may be someone who can reuse some of the buildings.
"There area couple of significant-sized projects that have substance," says Matson, "How many people they would be able to employ and whether they would be the same people that will be laid off is all conjecture, however, because none of the real due diligence has been done."
The brewery opened in 1896 to produce Olympia beer. Pabst bought the facility in 1983 and Miller bought it in 1999. The multi-building facility is bordered by the Deschutes River, Capitol Lake and a golf course.
Matson says he has requested a meeting with the City of Tumwater to discuss how redevelopment of the property would be affected by environmental issues that have risen to prominence as the brewery has sunk into obsolescence. Much of the 72 acres is undeveloped and will likely have to remain that way because the Deschutes River is a salmon stream.
"The amount of land available for the redevelopment would be a lot smaller than 72 acres," says Matson. "There will be increased buffers to deal with."
Others have speculated the well water rights associated with the brewery may be just as valuable as the land, if not more so. According to state Department of Ecology records, the brewery controls access to no less than 6.56 million gallons per day or 7,344 acre-feet, making it one of the largest water rights holders in South Puget Sound region.
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