Former Canton Brewing Co. property has new owner, new plans

CANTON – Plans for a new Brew Kettle in the dormant Canton Brewing Co. building have been scrapped. Instead, a longtime Canton business plans to move its headquarters to the downtown building.

Hilscher-Clarke Electric Co., which provides electrical construction, testing and engineering services to customers across Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana and West Virginia, is seeking to redevelop and expand its current building at 519 Fourth St. NW and move its headquarters into the former brewing building at 227 Market Ave. N.

Bolt Brewing Real Estate, a Hilscher-Clarke subsidiary that was created in February, purchased the Canton Brewing Co. building from Brew Kettle’s CBC Property Co. for $750,000 on Feb. 24, county records show.

Leaders for Hilscher-Clarke and Brew Kettle could not be immediately reached for comment.

The Brew Kettle, which said a year ago that it planned to open a brewpub, concert venue and Airbnb space at the former brewing building, still operates a location at Hall of Fame Village at 2018 Champion Gateway, Suite 101.

Canton Economic Development Director Christopher Hardesty said Hilscher-Clarke’s proposed project is expected to cost nearly $3.8 million and create up to 100 new full-time jobs.

He said the company plans to use the upper floors of the former Canton Brewing building as its corporate headquarters. Its work crews will remain at the Fourth Street NW building. Both currently operate out of the Fourth Street NW building.

“They are crammed,” Hardesty said. “They had been looking elsewhere. We’re fortunate to have them retained in Canton.”

Hardesty hopes the company will maintain the brewery on the main floor, but he deferred additional questions about the building’s main level and bottom level, commonly known as the speakeasy, to Hilscher-Clarke leaders.

Hardesty is asking Canton City Council to consider multiple tax incentives to help Hilscher-Clarke, Bolt Brewing Real Estate and GoodFether LLC, which owns the Fourth Street NW property, with the project. The incentives will go before council for their first of three readings on March 10.

Through Community Reinvestment Area agreements, the city would abate 75% of the increased property taxes for each renovated building over the next 10 years. The city would use income tax revenue it collects from Hilscher-Clarke to compensate the Canton City School District, which receives the largest share of property tax revenue in the city, for the tax money the school district would have received from the improved value of the properties.