Brewery, Crafted to open downtown Greensboro

The people behind popular Greensboro restaurant Crafted are opening a new restaurant in conjunction with another new brewery in downtown Greensboro.

The former Steele & Vaughn building across the street from Deep Roots Market will house a new restaurant owned by Crafted and a new craft brewery, building owner Andy Zimmerman said today.

Zimmerman wouldn’t comment on the name of the brewery but said it is not connected to other existing breweries.

“We plan for the brewery and the restaurant to be open by January 1…. because we’ve got strong, binding letters of intent,” Zimmerman said. “We’ve started the renovations. The floors have been torn out where the brewery equipment is going.”

The unconfirmed rumor is that local couple Nicole and Calder Preyer plan to open Preyer Brewing Company at the site. Nicole Preyer did confirmed this morning that they plan to open a brewery in downtown Greensboro in 2015 but said she could not comment on the exact location.

The news comes less than a week after Stone Brewing Co. passed over Greensboro for its planned East Coast facility and amidst a craft brew boom in the Triad.

Crafted owner Kristina Fuller said she is excited about the location at the intersection of Eugene Street and Battleground Avenue because of development in the area and Zimmerman in particular.

“Andy [Zimmerman] is a great guy and I’ve known Andy through our last restaurant which was the Bistro, so when he presented us with this opportunity I probably couldn’t have thought of anybody better to work with on this project… especially with the vision that he has for downtown,” she said.

And a planned brewery, which is unaffiliated but will occupy the same building, is a plus too, she said.

“We feel like with our concept and just the Crafted name that crafted beer just goes right along with that,” She said. “It’s going to be nothing but beneficial to have a brewery right next to us. We’ve met them and we feel like it’s been a good partnership of brewers and restaurant going in the same location.”

Fuller isn’t announcing what type of food the restaurant will be serving or its full name, but said it will be called “Crafted — The Art of the ?” The concept will be announced at or shortly before the restaurant’s opening, she said.

Zimmerman also owns the building on Lewis Street where renovations for Gibb’s Hundred are underway. He and Fuller are both excited about the potential for growth by the Steele & Vaughn building on the north side of downtown.

“I think it’s going to be a great addition to the area there with Roy [Carroll]’s buildings and other development that is planned in the area,” Zimmerman said. “I think this is going to a great addition to that side of town. I just think it’s going to be a great gathering place for people between the brewery and the restaurant there.”

Fuller said that planned condos, a hotel and the performing arts center, in addition to the Grasshoppers baseball stadium, make it a great location.

“It’s also part of the greenway,” she added. “People are going to drive by that space every day. Downtown is not just centrally located now. What most people’s idea of downtown is is starting to expand outwards.”

The brewery will be a short drive up the street from the new Pig Pounder brewery on Battleground Avenue and Gibb’s Hundred at the southern end of downtown.

Despite declining to name their planned location, Nicole Preyer said the brewery they plan to open somewhere will offer a portfolio of about six standard ales as well as other beers to mix it up.

Calder Preyer has been homebrewing for eight years, she said, and he attended the Siebel Institute of Technology which is based in Chicago and affiliated with World Brewing Academy in Munich. She added that they have a rich family history of operating businesses though this will be the couple’s first. Nicole and Calder Preyer both grew up in the Greensboro area.

UPDATE (8/4/14): We confirmed that Preyer Brewing is opening at the site!

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