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Brooklyn Brewery Says 'We're Not Leaving' Williamsburg Despite Rumors

By Alexandra Leon | February 25, 2016 4:32pm | Updated on February 26, 2016 5:54pm
 Brooklyn Brewery said it was staying in Williamsburg following reports that the company was eyeing a move to Industry City or the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
Brooklyn Brewery said it was staying in Williamsburg following reports that the company was eyeing a move to Industry City or the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
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Kickstarter/Brewed in Brooklyn

BROOKLYN — Brooklyn Brewery says it's not leaving Williamsburg.

The company responded to reports that it was eyeing a move to Industry City or the Brooklyn Navy Yard with a blog post Thursday saying the brewery will be staying at 61-71 Wythe Ave. in Williamsburg.

“You may have heard in the past couple days that we’re looking to leave Williamsburg. Let’s be clear: we’re not leaving,” read the blog post.

Eric Ottaway, the company's chief operating officer and general manager, said the company intends to renew its lease in Williamsburg after it expires in 2025. 

“We love Williamsburg. We’ve been here before Williamsburg was something anybody was even willing to come to,” Ottaway said. “Our intention is to stay here as long as we can.”

A Crain's New York article published Tuesday quotes Ottaway as saying the company's ability to renew its lease would be "zero."

But Ottaway said Thursday that the company intends to stay in Williamsburg if rent prices are still reasonable. He said the brewery had been scouting for locations as a practical matter, in case the company can't afford to stay at the Williamsburg location in 10 years.

“It may not be possible to renew in this neighborhood,” he said. “We’d love to stay here, but if we can’t we’re not going to leave Brooklyn. We have 10 years to figure it out.”

The brewery also said in its blog post that new projects were on their way.

“We do have some exciting projects on the horizon and part of our work in those involves some location scouting,” the blog post says.

“When those projects are fully ready, we’ll unveil them and you can bet we’ll be toasting them here in our Brooklyn home.”

Ottaway declined to comment on future projects, but said the company is still moving ahead with plans to manufacture out of a new facility on Staten Island, which would replace brewing operations at its factory in upstate New York.