It’s getting harder to find San Diego communities without breweries. Given San Diego State students’ notoriety for keggers and beer consumption, it’s ironic the College Area is one of them, but that will change if entrepreneur Robert Morey has his way. He is currently securing financial backers to move forward on Brewer’s Landing, a brewpub project that would give the College Area its first-ever locally produced suds.
Last year, an associate of his asked for input on a property he was looking to gain possession of—a former nightclub off El Cajon Boulevard—stating he wanted to install something for the community; a space for local meetings, events and showing off artwork from local artists. Morey has witnessed the rise of the craft-beer culture and number of operating breweries in San Diego County, and suggested a multi-faceted brewery and restaurant as the ideal concept for accomplishing all his colleague wanted and more, especially given the fact there isn’t a brewery to be found within a five-mile radius of the project site.
That space is 8,500 square feet with 2,125 square feet planned for brewing operations. According to Morey, the landlord for the industrial park the project would be located in has embraced beer-production and is open to housing several brewery operations down the road. For Brewer’s Landing, Morey envisions it as a business that mirrors downtown’s The Local Eatery and Watering Hole and its sister-business Resident Brewing, where there are two operations working together but separately under one roof. On the beer front, Morey wants to provide their eventual brewer to control vision and direction, though he understands the necessity for a quality IPA. Food-wise, comfort will be the name of the game, but exactly what form that takes has yet to be fully determined. Other amenities he hopes to include are a large stage for live entertainment, a selection of cigars, TVs to air sporting events, a pool table and darts. But the slate is still relatively blank for what may emerge as the College Area’s inaugural brewery.
