After months of planning, a new brewpub in York County has finally unveiled renderings for the building’s design.
In June 2019, York County announced Beale’s, a brewpub with a location in Bedford, would be constructing a new building in a vacant lot on Route 17.
Since that time, not much information has been released on the official look of the brewpub, but the company showed off their new renderings in a recent Facebook.
“When we made the deal and started thinking about building there, we really knew it was a clean slate,” said Emily Sanfratella, chief operating officer for Waukeshaw Development. “We didn’t have preconceived ideas about what we wanted.”
Waukeshaw Development is the creator of Beale’s in Bedford — which will be referred to as Beale’s West — and other adaptive reuse developments in Virginia. Part of what makes the company different is that they create a separate limited liability corporation and operate the new business themselves.
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The company has redevelopment projects such as an old warehouse in Clarksville and a mill in Amherst. However in this case, the company isn’t redeveloping an older building but instead constructing it from the ground up.
Sanfratella said creating something entirely new posed an exciting design challenge because it allowed them to consider how to make something that fits the history and surrounding area without trying too hard.
“We didn’t want to do something that felt unnaturally old since we are building from the ground up,” she said. “But we did want to bring a lot of natural elements.” (Story continues below the gallery)
The company decided it wanted to construct something that featured a lot of natural light with an airy and open feel. The designs bring in elements of the Bedford location so the two felt like related entities while still creating something unique in York County.
The renderings feature floor-to-wall windows and natural wood with access to outdoor seating that celebrates the openness of the space, Sanfratella said.
The company is still in the design process of construction and plans to break ground in the summer. Sanfratella said the process is taking a while because the company has to secure permits and finish site planning.
“It may seem like nothing is happening because there’s no active construction going,” Sanfratella said. “But once we start construction rolling, it’ll be pretty quick.”
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The next step is to start bidding out the subcontracting jobs and define the smaller details of the architectural work. Sanfratella said she expects the final product to look very close to the current renderings, with only small changes such as chairs.
With just the beginning of the project starting to take off, Sanfratella said the company is excited to see where it goes.
“We’ve been pleasantly surprised and excited by the support since posting the renderings on Facebook,” she said.
