At Summerhill redevelopment, local brewery Halfway Crooks tapped as debut tenant

Developer says brewers will occupy two-story space along dilapidated commercial row angling for new life.

By Josh Green@JoshGreen1234 Nov 27, 2017, 1:07pm EST

A photo of how the Summerhill brewery will occupy the two-story brick building at left; the attached structure at right contains addresses for possibly two other retail slots. — The brewery will consume the two-story brick building at left; the attached structure at right contains addresses for possibly two other retail slots.

By early next summer, Summerhill is set to welcome Atlanta’s next local brewery, which is promising a spark of vitality in a corroded commercial area in the shadow of what was Turner Field.

Officials with Carter, the developers who own much of the vacant Georgia Avenue strip, confirm that a brewery called Halfway Crooks will occupy a two-story, brick structure on the north side of the street.

With plans of debuting between May and June next year, the suds emporium will be the first business to open in a roughly four-block redevelopment Carter is simply calling “Summerhill.”

The Good Beer Hunting website, which first reported the Halfway Crooks Brewing and Blending news, says the venture took inspiration for its name from Mobb Deep and, uh, raising sheep. It’ll likely be Georgia’s first brewery to not rely on distributed beer as its main source of cashflow (selling almost all of its creations on site), thanks to recent changes in antiquated Peach State laws.

How the interior of 60 Georgia Ave. looked a few weeks ago.

The trio of cofounders behind the new brewery includes the recently departed brewmaster at Decatur’s Three Taverns Craft Brewery (Joran Van Ginderachter) and a standout in Atlanta’s homebrewing scene (research engineer Shawn Bainbridge), reports GBH.

A peek out the back of a small window at the brewery property.

Expect a 10-barrell system (and barrel-aging space) with a bar, a rooftop patio with downtown views, and at least some meat-and-cheese food offerings to start with, per GBH.

On board to design the spaces is noted Atlanta architecture firm Square Feet Studio, the team behind such lauded interiors as Kimball House, Bread and Butterfly, General Muir, and Staplehouse.

How the forthcoming brewery (marked “60”) relates to the overall scheme.

The rest of the buildings highlighted below are expected to start opening as retail and restaurants next summer. Developers have previously said construction should begin in earnest next month, pending permits.

On Georgia Avenue, Carter’s plans call for eight to 10 retail slots, depending on how one building is divided.