RICHMOND, Va. — A duo of local restaurateurs is looking to make a statement by giving the brimming Scott’s Addition beer scene some Broad Street frontage.
Jay Shah and Joel Gilbert plan to convert the former SunTrust branch at 3022 W. Broad St. into Statement Brewing Company.
The 10,000-square-foot site will be reconfigured to accommodate a brewery and restaurant. Shah would not disclose many details about the type of restaurant and style of beers Statement Brewing will serve.
“We want to make this a destination,” said Shah, majority owner of the venture and an executive at locally based Shamin Hotels. “So we thought that bringing in a restaurant would accomplish that, given what’s occurring in Scott’s Addition.”
Statement Brewing is scheduled to make its debut September 2017, Shah said, with construction hopefully starting on the site around February or March.
Reston-based Architecture Inc., which designed the Carytown Mellow Mushroom, is designing Statement Brewing’s space, Shah said.
No contractor has been selected. Shah said his team plans to seek historic tax credits for the project.
“The building was constructed in 1947,” he said. “We’re going to maintain as much of the building as possible. The exterior will look the same, with the addition of a few high-end finishes that will complement the neighborhood.”
Shah and Gilbert have a history in the restaurant business. He and Gilbert own Keagan’s Irish Pub & Restaurant in West Broad Village and are also opening a Mellow Mushroom restaurant in the new GreenGate development taking shape west of Short Pump.
Despite laying claim to a few well-known national and regional restaurant brands, Shah said the pair’s Scott’s Addition venture will be independently developed to appeal to the up-and-coming neighborhood.
“We want to cater to that location in Scott’s Addition…it’s going to be something very different,” he said.
Plans call for Statement Brewing to brew its own beer onsite at one end of the facility, with the restaurant on the other end of the building.
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