Long-time readers of REVITALIZATION are not strangers to the concept of beer-oriented redevelopment. Type “brewery” into our search function, and it will yield dozens of articles, including the Feature Article of this issue.
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the 33-year-old Dock Street Brewing Company was an early insurgent in the craft beer revolution that introduced America to sophisticated, small-batch suds.
Now it aims to be a pioneer in the revitalization of western Washington Avenue, currently a disheveled industrial artery running through the resurgent South Philadelphia neighborhoods of Graduate Hospital and Point Breeze.
The craft beer stalwart plans to open a new production space and taproom in a former tile warehouse in the Spring of 2019.
Founded in 1985 (before most Americans had even tasted a “real” beer, Dock Street is one of the few women-owned breweries in the U.S. It was Philadelphia’s first new brewery since Prohibition, and last year celebrated the 10th anniversary of its location in the Cedar Park section of West Philadelphia. In 2017, they launched a cannery operation next door, which more than doubled their capacity.
Dock Street president and cofounder Rosemarie Certo said she hopes the new South Philly brewery will help revitalize the corridor. She aims to see it blossom into a bohemian-chic boulevard, akin to the revitalizing area around its existing West Philadelphia location near 50th Street and Baltimore Avenue, which it will continue to operate.
Artisanal manufacturing will be a main focus at the new locatioon, with a 20-barrel brewhouse. The opening of Dock Street Brewery South means that dozens of new jobs will be created in the neighborhood. Their goal is both to increase Dock Street Presence and to help revitalize the neighborhood, serving both neighbors and craft beer pilgrims.
Attached to the Brewery will be a Tasting Room + Lounge, where Dock Street Beer, as well as craft spirits, beer cocktails, and light fare will be on the menu. At night, the cannery space serves as a cool lounge, where there’s an emphasis on beer-based cocktails and local spirits. One of those is Vicio mezcal, an affiliated Dock Street brand distilled to specification in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, where mezcal was invented.
The Baltimore Avenue location will remain open, of course. Dock Street West will also serve as a testing ground of sorts for smaller-batch, experimental brews, as well as a utopian model of diversity, inclusion, and community that we will carry over to our new location, Dock Street Brewery South.
Renata Certo-Ware, a Dock Street employee (and Dock Street owner Rosemarie Certo’s daughter) was manning the Dock Street tent at the Fitler Square Farmers Market when a stranger struck up a conversation straight out of Field of Dreams: “You guys should open up a place over on Washington Avenue,” he suggested. “There’s nothing like it in that neighborhood yet.”
Certo-Ware texted Certo and Marilyn Candeloro, Dock Street’s VP, from the farmers market. “Want to open up a spot on Washington Avenue?” Dock Street receives emails weekly touting real estate opportunities in Philadelphia and beyond, but something about this idea felt so right.
“Start looking,” Certo told her daughter.
Rendering courtesy of Dock Street Brewing Company.