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November 2, 2021

New England Brewing announces move to West Haven waterfront

Marty Juliano, center, director of business development for New England Brewing Co. at a news conference announcing the brewer's move to West Haven on Nov. 1, 2021.
By Liese Klein

New England Brewing Co., long headquartered in Woodbridge, will move to the West Haven waterfront, the company and city officials announced Monday.

The craft brewer, maker of the popular Sea Hag IPA, plans to build a new brewery, tap room and event space in the former Savin Rock Conference Center at 6 Rock St. 

Long unused and dilapidated, the conference center will be torn down and replaced by a 52,000-square-foot new building, said Marty Juliano, the brewer’s director of business development.

“We've been looking for quite some time now for the right place to move, not just a place to move,” Juliano said at a news conference streamed live on Monday. “This is the place you want to be — what this will do for the community here is second to none.”

West Haven’s city council is expected to take up the brewer’s plans for Savin Rock as soon as next week, Juliano said. 

Mayor Nancy Rossi said, “I'm very, very excited about this announcement, I think West Haven needs some good news, and I think we now have some good news,” she added, likely referring to the recent arrest of West Haven state representative and city employee Michael DiMassa on fraud charges. DiMassa resigned on Oct. 25.

Calling the former conference center “one of the most beautiful pieces of property West Haven owns,” Rossi said that New England Brewing Co. (NEBCO) will sign a long-term lease for the property, which will remain city-owned. “It's going to be good not only for the economy but for our businesses right here in West Haven,” Rossi said, anticipating that the brewery would boost traffic to neighborhood restaurants and stores. 

NEBCO intends to expand its workforce from the current 32 to up to 100 employees in the new location, Juliano said. The new brewery expects to welcome at least 350,000 visitors a year, numbers based on estimates from similar tourism-oriented breweries in the state. 

“With the strength of our brand being the No. 1 craft IPA in the state of Connecticut, we feel that we can probably surpass that,” Juliano said.

Phil Pappas, executive director of the Connecticut Brewers Guild, said that craft beer has become a $2 billion industry that employs 18,000 people in the state. Another 8-10 breweries are expected to come online this year alone, he said. 

“With this craft beer industry booming, we're happy to have West Haven be one of those cities that represents one of Connecticut's leading craft breweries,” he said. 

Pappas added that he is working with the town of Woodbridge to site another brewery at NEBCO’s current location, at 175 Amity Rd., calling it a “turnkey operation.” Founded in South Norwalk, NEBCO moved to Woodbridge in 2002 and to its current location in 2013.

The brewery had explored a move to River Street in New Haven, presenting its project to community groups and submitting plans for an 80,000-square foot facility to the city's development commission. However, competing plans from Jaigantic Studios for a movie-production facility on some of the same River Street property seemed to slow momentum. 

New Haven Economic Development Administrator Mike Piscitelli said, "Even with the disappointment that it did not work out on River Street, we wish New England Brewing all success at their chosen location in West Haven.  As one of Connecticut’s outstanding brands, it was a pleasure to work with Marty on his vision for growth and job creation.”

The NEBCO brewery announcement marks another uptick in activity along West Haven's waterfront, moribund in recent years due to blight, storm damage and the closings of iconic businesses like Chick’s Drive-In. 

In August, the Debonair Beach Motel site, at 295 Beach St., sold for $1 million to Sim Lev Holdings LLC of New Haven after sitting vacant for seven years. In July, the Amico Group LLC of North Haven bought the 6,700-square-foot former restaurant and the 2.5 acres of shorefront land it sits on for $1 million.

In June, an investor bought the Savin Rock Plaza at 200-250 Captain Thomas Blvd. in West Haven for $3 million. 

Contact Liese Klein at lklein@newhavenbiz.com.

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