[ALERT] BrewDog Closes at The Krog District Leaving Huge Hole in Expensive BeltLine Project

The Atlanta outpost of BrewDog (112 Krog Street) closed Sunday March 8 after about three and a half years in business.  Employees were blindsided Monday when they were called in for a meeting only to learn that they were now out of a job.  The 12,000 square foot eatery opened in October 2022 and was an anchor of The Krog District.  

ToNeTo Atlanta was first to report on the closure on our Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok pages.  

The Scotland-based company sold its U.K. holdings to American beer, cannabis, and consumer packaged goods company, Tilray (Nasdaq: TLRY), for £33 million (roughly $44 million) as part of a pre-pack administration, the U.K. equivalent of bankruptcy in the U.S.   The deal included the global brand and related intellectual property, the UK brewing operations, and eleven strategic brewpubs in the United Kingdom and Ireland.  

Tilray announced it is also negotiating to acquire "certain" U.S. and Australian BrewDog assets and expects to close on its U.S. acquisition within the next 30 days.  It's believed that the closure of the Atlanta unit was done in preparation for that potential sale.  

Following the closure of the Atlanta unit, BrewDog's U.S. operations include eight locations including five in Ohio.  

(Aphria Inc. acquired Atlanta's SweetWater Brewing Company in November 2020 for $300 million and merged with Tilray the following month.)  

BrewDog's closure comes about five months after Atlanta-based 26 Street Partners purchased SPX Alley and Krog Street Market, as well as Atlanta Stoveworks, known collectively as "The Krog District," for $210 million.  The seller, Asana Properties, was able to realize such a return - 224% over their original purchase price - due to the astronomically high rents they were able to achieve with some spaces reportedly offered for $100 per square foot.  

In addition to the BrewDog space, the Planta space in Krog Street Market sits empty, as does Adieu Laser & Aesthetics which opened in early 2024 near Guac y Margys but didn't last long.  BrewDog and its 12,000 square feet will be an incredibly challenging space to re-lease, especially to a single tenant, and most especially one that can afford such high occupancy costs.  

New restaurants are expected to open soon, but neither carries the "first to market" excitement that the project has enjoyed with the recent opening of the first Atlanta area PopUp Bagels.  

A second Atlanta area location of Egglsut is slated to open soon in place of what had been AKT, a fitness studio at SPX Alley, while a third Atlanta area location of Nando's is expected to open later this spring at Krog Street Market in place of what had been Bar Mercado.  

What do you think will open in place of BrewDog Atlanta? Do you have openings that you’d like to share with displaced BrewDog employees?  What are your thoughts on the current retail mix at The Krog District?  

Please share your thoughts below.