USA, OR: Breakside Brewery planning to purchase property for a massive new location in Gresham

Oregon’s Breakside Brewery has plans to purchase property from the Port of Portland to open a massive new location in Gresham, Oregon, New School Beer reported.

Pending approval by the Port Commission on November 10th, Breakside plans to construct a commercial brewery for distribution and expansion into new markets at the Gresham Vista Business Park and also develop their sixth retail location on-site following the new and upcoming Lake Oswego and Beaverton locations that the New School exclusively first reported on back in January.

The land in Gresham is a 30.98 acre lot, heavily sloped, and includes a natural wooded area and the man-made McGill Reservoir on its northern border, and is surrounded by a semiconductor fabrication facility on a relatively flat plateau. Breakside is proposing an innovative development at Gresham Vista Lot 10 that would have an outdoor recreational area with food trucks, trails, and other amenities on top of the public taproom and industrial brewery and distribution/packaging HUB. The wooded areas and the reservoir would be preserved to sustain a more rustic, agrarian, and outdoorsy feel with unique topography, that would at the same time increase the viability of future commercial development at the adjacent Lot 11 as a result of the development of Lot 10.

“We are excited to be able to continue to meet customer demand for our beers. This site is perfect for us, not only allowing us to build a new brewery, but also create a unique destination for beer lovers that is also family- and dog-friendly,” said Scott Lawrence, Founder of Breakside Brewery.

Gresham Vista Business Park was acquired by the Port of Portland in 2011 and has developed as a manufacturing and logistics base in the heart of Gresham. The transaction includes commitments to the Port’s focus on shared prosperity for area residents in the amount of $250,000 toward two initiatives that will directly benefit under-served members of the community. The contribution is currently targeted to be allocated towards:

Mt. Hood Community College to provide scholarships to low-income students to study food and beverage industry entrepreneurship.

Downtown Rockwood Community Development Corp o Support to the Rosemary-Anderson program that trains youth for opportunities in food service and entrepreneurship. o Create food cart opportunities for micro-restaurant entrepreneurs.

“The addition of Breakside will not only be a wonderful amenity for the entire community,” said Keith Leavitt, Chief Trade and Equitable Development Officer of the Port of Portland. “but we are especially pleased how this will create opportunities across Gresham and East County through partnerships with Mt. Hood Community College as well as the Rockwood community.”

“This project fits perfectly at Gresham Vista, which is the gateway to our community,” said Shannon Stadey, Economic and Development Services Director with the City of Gresham. “It is an excellent example of the type of project that not only adds family wage jobs for our residents, but also supports growth of a local company that is committed to the Gresham community.”

Breakside Brewery opened in 2010 in Northeast Portland as a restaurant and pub brewery and has grown to be a highly regarded regional brewery producing 30,000 barrels annually. The brewery is known for its broad portfolio of award-winning, innovative beers. The brewery added two new retail locations during the height of the pandemic, now operating 5 locations across the metro region. In 2019, Breakside became one of only a handful of employee-owned breweries in the country.

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