A sweet new tenant, Fran’s, finds a home in Georgetown brewery

By JOURNAL STAFF

Fran’s Chocolates just opened a new factory in an addition to the Brew House at the Original Rainier Brewery in Georgetown.

The one-story, tilt-up building at 5900 Airport Way S. has 29,000 square feet, with areas for making chocolate as well as baking, receiving, storage, packaging and shipping.

Fran’s also leases 9,000 square feet of office and retail space on the first two floors of the Brew House, which was renovated to give the space an early 20th century, industrial feel.

About 4,000 square feet were added to the Brew House for elevators and stairs. It is now 18,000 square feet.

Fran’s had outgrown its factory on Capitol Hill.

Bassetti Architects designed the core and shell for the new building and the renovation. Sabey Corp. was the contractor for the core and shell and tenant improvements.

Sabey owns the 100-year-old brewery complex and the new addition, which incorporates a wall from what had been the brewery’s cold storage building. That building was demolished in 2008 due to structural issues.

Bassetti said the layout of the addition is consistent with the scale and rhythm of the original brewery.

The shell and core team also included Swenson Say Faget, structural engineering; Hermanson Co., mechanical engineering; Holmes Electrical, electrical; ESM Consulting Engineers, civil engineering; Shannon & Wilson, geotech; and Karen Kiest Landscape Architects.

The tenant improvement team was made up of Michael Whalen, architect; Perbix Bykonen, structural engineering; FSI Consulting Engineers, mechanical engineering; and The Pinnacle Group, industrial engineering.

The addition has 8,000 square feet available for lease to a retail or light industrial tenant. The Brew House has 9,000 square feet for lease on the upper two floors.

Bassetti said the Brew House project reflects the historic Georgetown neighborhood’s evolution as a magnet for creative industries — designers, craftsman, artisans and artists.