There's a big, empty lot at the important downtown Penticton intersection of Westminster and Winnipeg. It's surrounded by a red security fence, and it seems to look the same today as it did a year ago.
But look a little closer and you'll see changes are afoot. Suddenly, the property's a little tidier. Suddenly, the rabble and the old pavement that littered the place is gone. And suddenly, excavation equipment has reappeared.
And that's because Neighbourhood Brewing, one of the most keenly awaited new projects in the downtown core, has finally hit the launch pad.
In less than a year, says Neighbourhood co-owner Mike Coghill, it'll be built, opened to the public, and humming along smoothly.
Yesterday, an excavator and a dump truck were on site, extracting and removing unwanted materials. Monday, the serious digging begins.
Happily watching their vision taking shape Friday afternoon were Coghill, wife and fellow co-owner Melinda Coghill, and business partner and long time friend John Main.
"Yeah, construction's begun," said an upbeat Coghill this afternoon. "We've had some of our permits begin. We're waiting for a couple more, but we have enough to start."
Coghill said the delay - the original target was summer of 2019 - wasn't the result of anything mysterious.
"We just thought it would go a little faster. And as you dig into things, it just took longer than anticipated. And we didn't want to rush to get something we wouldn’t be happy with or the community wouldn't be happy with."
Melinda Coghill agreed. "We probably grossly underestimated how long it takes to put together a building," she laughed. "This is our first venture that we built from the ground up, and there are a lot of little details you'd never even think you'd need to know."
But even without a building, the Neighbourhood crew has been busy brewing, making friends, and building a rep.
"Our neighbor, Bad Tattoo, has been great to us," said Mike, "We've been leasing some space there and our brewmasters are brewing. Craft beer is a community and they’ve really helped us out."
And they’ve been perfecting new beer recipes too. The Coghills own Yellow Dog Brewing in Port Moody, where their beers have garnered a rather sizable fan base, but they wanted different tastes for their new Okanagan home.
"We've made several preliminary batches to see what the market likes, what we like, and then from there what we're going to do at Neighbourhood," said Mike.
"When we came to Penticton, it was to be a different brewery. We wanted to use some of the staff we had at Yellow Dog who'd earned their stripes, and give them the creative ability to brew new beers. And we have new partners up here, so it's definitely a new adventure."
Neither of the Coghills were ready to share all the juicy details, though they did confirm that they're "shooting for an opening in summer of 2020." Moreover, the venue will have a second floor. And it will serve food.
It'll also be in the midst of what has, over the past year, become a happening place. Wayne and Freda is across the street. Black Antler, Slackwater Brewing, Angry Vegan, and Tratto Pizzeria Napoletena aren’t much further. And the already established Bad Tattoo Brewing is just a block away.
Melinda Coghill said it was all quite organic. "We didn’t really know this was going to be the happening corner. When we started looking at property up here, we liked the idea of being two blocks from the beach and having that walkability."
"We just thought it was a prime corner in Penticton," added Mike."We've seen this happen before in Port Moody. You have an anchor venue like Bad Tattoo, and the area develops around community brewers."
A stone's throw away at Bad Tattoo, general manager and co-owner Lee Agur said he's psyched about the relationship that's been forged with Neighbourhood Brewing.
"Their head brewer has been brewing out of here for the past few months, and it's been amazing," he said.
"We're doing a lot of collaboration stuff together and our head brewer and their head brewer are talking quite a bit. And we're just trying to be even better and help increase the profile of Penticton breweries further than it already is."
"We hang out quite a bit too. Maybe too much," he smiled.
"But it's awesome. We can't wait to welcome them to the community. It’s really going to add to this area. People are already starting to call it the entertainment district."
Neighbourhood Brewing product is currently available throughout the city, at spots like Bad Tattoo, Cannery Brewing, Slackwater Brewing, Clancy's Sports Pub, Elma, Black Antler, and more.
But next year at this time, they'll also be available directly from the brewer in their new digs at 187 Westminster Avenue West.
