Port awarded state grant to help finance brewpub

A $250,000 grant from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. has been awarded to the City of Port Washington to help with the construction of Inventors BrewPub, and Tuesday the Common Council approved an agreement with the state that will facilitate the funding.

The Common Council on Tuesday approved the agreement by a 6-1 vote, with Ald. Deb Postl dissenting.

There was little discussion, but at the Finance and License Committee meeting preceding the session Postl said approving the loan would mean other projects might have less chance to get similar funding from the state.

When asked what a good project for funding would be, she replied, “Not this one.”

Although the grant was sought by TBF Development, which is building the new brewpub on the north marina slip parking lot, the state requires that the city apply for the funding. It will then reimburse TBF for qualified construction expenses.

The agreement specifies that if the project isn’t completed, the funds will be returned to the state along with any court costs and attorney fees incurred by the state in terminating the agreement.

A penalty of as much as 1% of the funds will also be charged to the city.

“That would fall on the city,” Bob Harris, the city’s director of planning and development, said.

But, he said, the grant funds can’t be used until there is an approved developer’s agreement between the city and TBF. The city will ensure that the agreement specifies that TBF will cover this cost if it is incurred, Harris said.

The agreement will also spell out the conditions under which the grant funds can be drawn from the city and require TBF to hire an independent auditor to meet state requirements, officials have said.

Inventors is expected to break ground on its project in the next month, officials said.

The brewpub, which is currently located at the Van Ells-Schanen American Legion Hall on Lake Street, announced in January that it plans to build a  new facility on the north slip marina parking lot.

The building will accommodate a 10-barrel craft brewpub, 250-seat event space with another 100 seats on the mezzanine above, bride and groom rooms that could double as green rooms for performance groups using the event space and 8,500-square-feet of office space.