Former Brewery Site Is Purchased

The former Stroh’s brewery, once home to one of the San Fernando Valley’s leading employers, has been bought by a company that plans to turn it into a vast parking lot, disappointing city officials who had hoped the site would be a magnet for jobs.

Nearly 400 hourly workers once worked at the brewery, which closed in 1990. But the new owner, Copart Inc., a Benicia, Calif.-based company that auctions wrecked cars for salvage, plans to employ only 10 to 15 workers for now, Copart general counsel Paul A. Styer said.

“Oh gosh,” said John Rooney, president of the Valley Economic Development Center upon learning who bought what he called “a prime industrial site.”

“I think a lot of people were envisioning some other projects that would have had much greater employment,” he added.

“Basically, it’s just a parking lot,” said Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.

The sale represents “a lower use” of a once-bustling manufacturing property, Kyser said. “They are not going to bring in a lot of buildings and equipment that will generate additional property taxes . . . and it will provide a very low density of jobs.”

Said Tom Henry, deputy for City Councilman Joel Wachs: “Certainly Councilman Wachs was hoping for a better use of that property,”

Copart purchased the 40-acre brewery property at 7521 Woodman Ave. from the Stroh Brewery Co. of Detroit. in May for an undisclosed price, sources with both companies said. Property records show that the land and improvements were assessed at $21.6 million in 1995.

The brewery, built in 1954, was acquired by Stroh in 1982, Stroh spokeswoman Lacey Logan said. In 1990, facing competitive pressure in the beer business, Stroh closed the plant.

The new owner, Copart, buys wrecked cars from insurance companies, car-rental agencies and repossession outfits, then stores them for auction to licensed dismantlers and rebuilders, Styer said.

The company leased 10 acres of the site last fall, and subsequently negotiated with Stroh to buy the entire parcel.