Brewery, offices proposed for St. Cloud's east side

ST. CLOUD – A local developer is hoping to breathe new life into St. Cloud's east side with a new brewery or distillery.

Kevin Johnson, president at Sauk Rapids-based K Johnson Construction, is planning to renovate the former International Harvester Company building at 539 East. St. Germain St. for multiple uses such as a brewpub on the first floor with event space and professional offices on the second floor.

"We've been working on this since 2018," Johnson said. "I just kept driving by and started thinking about some of the uses. At one time there was some talk about tearing the building down, which would just be a travesty. They don't make them like this anymore."

St. Cloud's planning commission unanimously approved on Aug. 10 rezoning the property from industrial to commercial to accommodate Johnson's remodeling plans.

"This property has been a significant point of discussion over the last couple of decades even as we've talked about the potential relocation of the Northstar train station site to the Amtrak station," said Matt Glaesman, community development director, at the meeting. "As recently as in the 2018 East Side master plan, we had discussion about redevelopment."

The building was built in 1928 — when the area was bustling with barbershops, meat markets and hotels, as well as millwork factories. It was about two blocks west of a large "St. Cloud — The Granite City" gateway sign that straddled the street.

Trains unloaded equipment for assembly at International Harvester Company, after which the equipment would be sold locally or put back on a train to ship elsewhere.

"It's just a unique old building," Johnson said, describing the space as having maple flooring across the entire second level, an old freight elevator and abundant natural light. The southern two-story portion of the building has about 15,000 square feet on each floor with an additional 32,000 square feet of single-story warehouse space to the north.

The city's east side has long been neglected and endured redevelopment woes as developers crafted plans only to scrap them. A number of business along the main drag closed after a 2006 city project expanded the street to four lanes and removed on-street parking.

Surrounding the site is a train station, lumberyard, commercial bakery and metal recycler. But plans drafted by the city and the East Side Booster Club — which was incorporated in the 1940s and became active again in recent years — have proposed redevelopment possibilities including retail along East St. Germain Street, housing near a potential commuter rail site, and riverfront restaurants, hotels and office complexes.

"We do believe the rezoning of the property from industrial to [commercial] is consistent with that vision," Glaesman said.

Johnson called the building an "icon of the east side."

Jenny Berg • 612-673-7299

Twitter: @bergjenny