Dubuque Brewing & Malting Company

Dubuque, IA • 2021

Under the guidance of Steve Emerson, a Cedar Rapids architect and developer, the century and a half old brewing company building is trying hard to make a comeback.  This 135,000 square foot, multi-level brick and stone beauty is ripe for restoration.  The brewing company annual produced 300,000 barrels of beer. Water was supplied from an artesian well on the premises; hops for the beer were imported from Bavaria. The refrigerating plant had a capacity of 200 tons of ice daily.  Prohibition stopped the production of beer and in 1934, the Corn Belt Packing Company started slaughtering hogs as a meat packing house.  By the end of WWII, it remained a Ham storage facility until it was abandoned in 1949.

Firmly stationed in the east side of Dubuque, we have been obtained to develop and execute a financial plan to finance this aging beauty.  Using federal and state historic and workforce housing tax credits and private investment through the Opportunity Zone legislation, the City of Dubuque and Emerson have created an agreement to leverage public investment with private capital to restore the buildings and dramatically improve the neighborhood.  Efforts are now underway to complete the financing and develop construction drawings.  Construction is planned for the summer of 2021.