RED HOOK — Red Hook will soon be home to Ample Hills Creamery's latest expansion.
The Brooklyn ice cream purveyor says it is expanding to the neighborhood with a massive new factory and parlor opening next year.
The production facility and ice cream shop will open in mid-2016 at 421 Van Brunt St., a low-slung brick warehouse near Fairway Market and Hometown BBQ the company has leased.
"We really wanted to keep it in Brooklyn," said Ample Hills Creamery co-owner Jackie Cuscuna. "That's where we live and that's where we started."
The new ice cream parlor, open year-round, will be similar to the first level of Ample Hills's Gowanus location with seating and a window that looks into the production facility, Cuscuna said. Parts of the new factory will be open for tours, she added.
Ample Hills, which currently has locations in neighborhoods such as Gowanus and Prospect Heights, will take over 15,000 square feet for its new venture, spokesman Michael Gitter told DNAinfo. The expansion comes on the heels of a reported $4 million investment.
When Ample Hills opened its wildly-popular parlor in Gowanus last year, the ice creamery created a new flavor "It Came From Gowanus" to celebrate.
So can Red Hook look forward to its own flavor? "Definitely," Cuscuna said, "there's definitely a flavor in order for Red Hook."
The venue will also feature a bakery, a party room and the company's famous bicycles with ice cream churners, according to Brownstoner, which first reported the story.
Renovations to the space are slated to begin in January and they will be incorporating necessary protections against flooding into the design, Cuscuna said.
The new factory will house part of Ample Hills's ice cream production but some flavors will still be produced in Gowanus and Prospect Heights such as "It Came From Gowanus" and "The Commodore" respectively.
Ample Hills opened its first store in 2011 at 623 Vanderbilt Ave. Last year, its second two-story parlor opened at 305 Nevins St. in Gowanus. The ice creamery also operates two seasonal shops in Brooklyn Bridge Park and Jacob Riis Beach Bazaar.
It's also recently landed a deal to produce "Star Wars"-themed ice cream flavors: The Dark Side and The Light Side.
