A new brewery and beer garden is coming to a fast-growing neighborhood near uptown

Charlotte City Council on Tuesday approved a new development that will bring a brewery and beer garden to South End, modifying an existing building in a fast-growing part of town.

The plan covers the building and parking lot at South Boulevard and East Kingston Avenue, a block from the Blue Line light rail. The 19,000 square-foot building would be repurposed with features including a speakeasy-style basement and a large outdoor seating area.

The developers, ABW Charlotte, are affiliated with Atlanta-based New Realm Brewing Company, which recently opened a new restaurant and brewery on Atlanta’s Beltline trail.

“The (developer) intends to incorporate a speak-easy basement, barrel and foeder aging, and upscale bier garten,” the developers said at a November community meeting. “The Petitioner intends to transform the outdoor bier garten area to include communal seating, water features, fire pits, stonework and landscaping to create an inviting space.”

The main restaurant would total 14,000 square feet, while the patio would total 10,700 square feet of outdoor space. ABW Charlotte bought the site in 2017 for just under $5 million, property records show.

“We want to be local,” the developers said in their community presentation. “We will not sell our beers in states where we do not have a local presence in targeted key

cities.”

This story was originally published January 17, 2018 at 8:30 AM with the headline "A new brewery and beer garden is coming to a fast-growing neighborhood near uptown."