New Life to Downtown North Bend: Volition Brewing to transform long vacant building

Downtown revitalization is something the City of North Bend has put front and center over the past year, including hiring a consultant to attract new businesses to the prominent and long empty buildings sitting at the entrance to the downtown core.

It seems that revitalization work is now coming to fruition with a big announcement at last month’s Downtown Block Party from Volition Brewing, which plans to call the empty Glazier Building home in spring 2019.

Over the past few months, the city had been working closely with the property owner and Volition in an effort to bring the brewery to North Bend, which they believe will make a great addition to the community.

But it will take time and A LOT of work to get the Glazier Building – which has been empty for about two decades – ready to welcome a new tenant.

Volition co-owner Lucas Haines said they’ll be partnering with Carbonite Properties to take the historic building – which has not had a tenant since a department store closed in the ’90’s – and transform it into what they envision as a hub with great atmosphere and great beer.

There is a lot of work to do between now and Volition’s spring 2019 target opening date.  Haines said all of the wood floors have to be replaced with a concrete slab to support heavy brewing equipment. Structural work will also be completed to reinforce walls and allow access to the exterior alleyway, where they plan to add outdoor seating.

City of North Bend Economic Development Manager and Planner Lynn Hyde said the city has had discussions about closing that alley to vehicles on a day-to-day basis to create a pedestrian corridor and seating area, regardless of the future occupants of the empty adjacent buildings. She said the alley would still be accessibly by vehicles on an ‘as-needed’ basis.

Volition is currently working with the King County Landmarks and Historical Society to maintain the building’s historic facade, but the interior and infrastructure will be all new and modern, along with being kid and dog-friendly.

The remodeling work will start with the main building, but Volition also plans to upgrade the surrounding buildings, including the rundown, rear detached garage which will become what Volition business partners have dubbed ‘The Funk House,’ where barrel aging and wood fermenting will occur. It is this building where the brewery plans to add a year-round covered and heated roof top bar with sprawling views of Mt. Si.

Volition Brewing was started by two Pacific Northwest families, and they want that PNW heritage to show in their beers, branding and North Bend location. Haines commented, “Family and the local community are pillars of our brand.”

Volition is currently offering ‘Founders Packages’ that allow community members to join the ‘Volition Coalition’ which gives access to ‘custom swag,’ discounts, annual event access and more.

Although no site plans or building permit applications have been submitted to the City of North Bend yet, Volition did have conceptual images created for their new Taphouse and Brewery. You can see those below. [NOTE: these are not final, approved plans/renderings.]

For more information on Volition Brewing visit: www.volitionbrewing.com and keep up with the latest happenings on their Facebook page.