Proposed food hall in South End reimagined as spot for an Atlanta-based brewery

The brewery currently operates at two locations in Atlanta, one in Nashville, one in Birmingham. Charlotte will become their fifth.

Details: The brewery will be located at 2217 South Tryon, at the corner of Rampart. Brewery management is eyeing a February 2023 opening.

Why it matters: The team behind Monday Night Brewing hopes it will be a popular neighborhood hub for people looking for an indoor/outdoor escape near their home or workplace.

What to expect: The brewery will occupy 8,500 square feet. While the developer’s plans no longer include a seven-stall food hall, it will include plenty of features that go beyond traditional beer brewing, such as:

• Neapolitan-style pizzas to pair with their wide variety of beer.
• Wine, a carefully curated cocktail program and several non-alcoholic options.
• Approximately three-quarters of an acre will be dedicated to outdoor space. The space will be activated with an outdoor bar and plenty of seating.

The beer: Monday Night Brewing offers a variety of award-winning beers, including fruited sours, lagers, bold IPAs and Scotch Ales. Their beers are sold in bright colored cans with patterned neckties (a riff on their logo of a tie-wearing man with a fist raised in celebration) and bowties.

What they’re saying: “We spent a lot of time with the Monday Night team in both Charlotte and Atlanta, and it was immediately evident that they would be the perfect match for South End’s laid-back and fun-loving culture,” says Eric Nichols, partner at Providence Group Capital.

• “It started innocently enough. Indie craft brewers meet commercial real estate guys to look at maps. But the more we talked, the more we realized how similarly we think about our businesses, our people, and the idea of place,” says Jonathan Baker, owner of Monday Night Brewing.

Of note: Regarding the decision to scrap plans for a food hall, the developer said that “stars aligned” for the brewery. They didn’t disclose any other details behind the decision, however.

This area already looks quite different from this time last year. Today, thousands of new residential units are under construction on Rampart, Distribution, South Tryon and West Tremont along with several commercial properties like The Line by Portman Holdings.

Between the lines: Social media blows up every time a new brewery is announced in Charlotte. It’s fairly evident people are starting to have brewery announcement fatigue, so why should people care about this one?

Outside brewing beer, the team behind Monday Night Brewing points to its involvement in their local communities.

• The brewery offers an annual DEI leadership internship program to help women and BIPOC (Black, indigenous, people of color) who want to rise to leadership positions or start their own breweries get a start in the industry. They recognize that brewing is primarily a white-male dominated industry and would like the Southeast to be a hub of women and minority owned breweries.
• A portion of sales each November goes to fight food insecurity in local communities. A portion of their Hop Hut series goes back to organizations that help underprivileged children with after school care, counseling, etc.
• The brewery donates its space and beer to non-profit organizations regularly.

Clayton Sealey owns CLT Development, a media company that covers and fosters discussion about construction, transit, commercial real estate, and city planning in Charlotte. By day, he is a marketing professional for The Mint Museum and a Planning Commissioner for the city of Charlotte.