Self-storage and brewery planned in beer district

What do you want to do after a hard day of moving?

Stan Scott hopes you want to stuff your excess belongings in a self-storage unit then kick back for a beer.

Under the name Fort Collins Self-Storage LLC, Scott recently purchased 6.5 acres at the corner of Lemay Avenue and Buckingham Street in northeast Fort Collins, where he plans to build an 80,000 to 100,000 square-foot storage facility accompanied by a roughly 5,500 square-foot microbrewery and taproom. He hasn't hired a brewer yet, but Scott anticipates the microbrewery will have the production capacity of a 20-barrel system.

He's been working on the $6 million project since a conceptual review plan was filed with the city in September.

The concept has been successful in Denver, where an old airplane hangar was turned into a storage facility and beer garden as part of the Lowry redevelopment, he said.

About half of the self-storage facility will be typical drive-up self storage. The other half will be climate controlled, which Scott said customers increasingly want.

He is working with RB+B Architects to design a microbrewery that will fit into the Brew Tour Loop with New Belgium, Snowbank, Fort Collins and Odell breweries.

"Our brewery won't be for the new brewer just coming out of their basement, but for the aspirational brewer that wants to move to the next step beyond the typical three barrel brewery that is common in the industry," he said.

The area is zoned industrial but also makes sense for a brewery, Scott said. "With employers in the area like Poudre Valley Hospital, Colorado State University, Woodward, New Belgium and OtterBox providing high-quality employment to our citizens, we feel confident about the future of Fort Collins, and we proud to be a part of its continued development."

He hopes to have the project underway in six to eight months.