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By Mike Allen
October 9, 2015 (Santee)--What appeared to be nearly a done deal---San Diego craft brewer Karl Strauss relocating its main production and corporate headquarters to Santee’s Town Center---may not happen after all.
Matt Rattner, who co-founded Karl Strauss in 1989 and its president, said the company is keeping its options open.
“There’s no deal yet,” Rattner said recently. “We just received a proposal to go to Otay Mesa--and we’ve also talked with the cities of Vista and San Marcos.”
That’s not to say the brewer won’t go to Santee, he said. It’s just that the business is weighing other opportunities.
Last month, the Santee City Council directed its staff to work with the brewery on developing an iconic sign for a proposed complex that would include three buildings on 10 acres just north of Town Center off of Cuyamaca Street.
In addition to a brewing house and tasting room that would also house some 24,000 square feet of office space, the project includes a 7,400 square foot restaurant, and a warehouse/ distribution building of about 46,000 square feet. It would also feature a large outdoor beer garden between the restaurant and tasting room that would have extensive landscaping, seating, and plenty of room for games such as bocce ball and corn hole toss. View site map and renderings.
The design resembles what Stone Brewing Co. created at both its Escondido headquarters and its Liberty Station satellite brewery, and would be an obvious tourist attraction.
Karl Strauss is San Diego’s oldest craft brewer, headquartered in Pacific Beach. The company submitted extensive architectural plans to the city of Santee in July after having discussions with Santee officials dating to 2012, said Pamela White, Santee senior economic development coordinator.
The brewer was seeking another location, and at one time was looking at a five-acre parcel owned by California Department of Transportation. In 2013, the company became interested in the proposed site that’s in the Riverview Office Park. Brewery officials liked the site for is accessibility and connections with the San Diego Trolley station, White said.
The site is adjacent to two residential projects, Park One, a 172-unit upscale apartment complex that was just completed, and a planned 128-unit apartment tower for San Diego Christian College. The latter project is expected to begin construction next year, White said.
The proposed brewery/ restaurant site is just west of a planned theater and entertainment complex. White said that project is envisioned to include both a multiplex cinema, and buildings for possible other entertainment uses such as a laser tag venue, a restaurant, and a lounge. Yet the city has yet to line up any development partners for this, White noted.
Despite a significant investment in preparing design drawings and other plans that go with filing an new development application with Santee, Rattner said those costs won’t be wasted should Karl Strauss decide to pursue another site.
“Eighty percent of that work is fungible to wherever we want to go,” he said without revealing how much has been investment so far.
Unlike several other craft breweries that have built new production plants with the intent of broadening their reach to other states and even nations, Karl Strauss has said it has no plans to distribute its bottled beer beyond California. “We want to stay regional and in California and keep control of our distribution channels,” Rattner said.
But it has certainly outgrown its current plant at Santa Fe Street where production should reach about 100,000 barrels this year, Rattner said. The plan is for the new plant to have a capacity to produce about 300,000 barrels annually, he said.
Wherever the new plant goes, it would have an initial staff of about 100 to 150 people, but would eventually grow to about 300 employees, Rattner said.
The company now operates eight brew pub restaurants, including three outside San Diego County, and has about 700 employees. Last year, it produced about 80,000 barrels ranking it 45th among the largest craft breweries in the United States by Brewers Association, the industry’s trade group.
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