New Holland Brewing secures last piece of funding for Battle Creek taproom

New Holland Brewing secures last piece of funding for Battle Creek taproom

BATTLE CREEK — New Holland Brewing Co. LLC will begin construction next month on its third brewery and taproom in West Michigan after securing a final funding source from the Michigan Economic Development Corp. 

Battle Dog LLC, an affiliate of New Holland Brewing, was awarded a $968,500 Michigan Community Revitalization Program grant earlier this month to support its redevelopment of 64 West Michigan Ave. in Battle Creek, which the company acquired in 2018.

“We’re excited to be a catalyst to help with the rejuvenation that’s happening in downtown Battle Creek,” Dave White, vice president of retail operations at New Holland, told MiBiz. “It’s exciting to see and exciting to be a part of.”

White estimated construction would begin in February and take six or seven months to complete, with the company targeting an opening this summer. The project is expected to result in a total capital investment of more than $4 million, according to the MEDC.

New Holland Brewing, which announced the project in 2018, has experienced some delays in redeveloping the historic building, which has required “a lot” of work. The company also needed to secure more funding, White said, and was trying to get the project off the ground amid a spate of redevelopment in downtown Battle Creek. 

“There’s a lot of redevelopment happening there, and in some ways that helps and slows the project down,” White said. “We did experience some delays, some on the funding side, some on the development side. But overall, we’ve gotten to where we wanted to be, and I think we’re going to have an amazing pub when it’s all said and done.”

New Holland Brewing, which operates from locations in Holland and Grand Rapids, received other financial support for the project, including a 12-year Obsolete Property Rehabilitation Act tax abatement, estimated at a $995,000 value; a $265,000 Real Estate Connection grant; and a $250,000 development grant from Battle Creek Unlimited Inc. 

BCU has given out several financial incentives to support multiple redevelopment projects planned or underway in downtown Battle Creek, MiBiz previously reported.

“This is a great complement to several other economic development projects underway or in the pipeline, none of which would be possible without the collaboration of many, including the MEDC, BCU and city of Battle Creek,” BCU President and CEO Joe Sobieralski said in a statement.