As a general rule, we prefer seeing adaptive reuse, not demolition and new construction. Understanding that's not always possible, it still bums us out when we see awesome old buildings torn down and replaced by standard residential development. But such is life in our living, breathing city. So yeah, we were really unhappy to see the old Ortlieb's Brewery demolished last summer. And though we're still not really over it, we still gotta tell you about the new project that's now under construction where the brewery once stood at 3rd & Poplar.

View at 3rd & Poplar

Peeking over the fence

Previously, Tower Investments owned this parcel, but sometime in the last year, they sold the parcel to US Construction. The developers, per usual, hired JKRP Architects at their architects. Together, they devised Ortlieb Square, a clever plan to fit 39 units onto this property which is inconveniently bisected by the building that's home to the excellent Ortlieb's Lounge. This was presented at Civic Design Review a few months ago. The project will consist of eighteen duplexes, each with two-car parking, along with a mixed-use building at the corner of 3rd & Poplar with ground floor retail and three apartments above. Parking access will be from the rear, with a drive-aisle accessed via American Street.

Project site plan

Overhead view

3rd Street rendering

Future view on Poplar St.

Rendering on American Street

We would imagine that the project will follow the traditional US Construction plan, renting the units for a few years and eventually selling them off. As for the retail component eventually coming to the corner, we've heard nothing but just about anything would make sense there.

Had this property been sitting vacant for many years, we'd be thoroughly excited about the project, but we're still struggling to get past what could have been. But if we're able to reel in our emotions and get over the demolition of the brewery, we're able to see this as a reasonable project for the location. We appreciate the density, like that there's a mixed-use component, and we'd guess that the neighbors are generally appreciative that there's parking included for almost all of the units. Also, we can't think of an example of a US Construction project stalling out once it starts, so look for speedy construction at this corner in the next year and change. We'll be sure to check in again, maybe around the project's halfway point.