Depot to Be Site of Brewery-Pub

A San Juan Capistrano developer has reached an agreement with the city to lease Old Towne’s historic Santa Fe Depot and open a microbrewery and restaurant.

Under the terms of the deal, the city will use $300,000 of its redevelopment funds to rehabilitate the dilapidated property, shuttered since the 1970s, and then lend J.R. Guerin another $250,000 to help build the microbrewery.

Redevelopment funds are funneled from the state to the city out of property taxes to encourage business development and the creation of affordable housing, said Linda Boone, the city’s economic development director.

City officials said that the brewery-pub will give a boost to other businesses in the downtown area.

“This is economic development at its finest,” Boone said. “The evidence is clear that when you bring in more restaurants, you bring in more people and all the restaurants do better. This is a good deal for us and a fair deal.”

Guerin said that he and his investors, who together form the Old Towne Brewing Co., have also received loans totaling nearly $1 million to invest in the new restaurant.

The group will have use of the 1938 mission-style building rent-free for the first year of operation and then pay annual rent of $57,000 to $69,000 for the first 10 years of the lease. Guerin will have renewal options for another 10 years, according to the agreement.

Guerin said the new restaurant and brewery, set to open by February, will include a grain silo, a milling room and a glass-faced brewery where about 4,000 barrels of beer will be produced each year.

The restaurant will also offer coffee and juice to commuters who use the nearby Metrolink station.