The Tennessee Brewery - SAVED! - Memphis, TN

Built in 1890, and at one time the largest brewery in the South, the Tennessee Brewery had been abandoned since the 1950s. In 2014, just weeks before its scheduled demolition, a pop-up biergarten inside the brewery garnered the attention of local businessman Billy Orgel and his son Benjamin. The event, “Untapped,” was simply intended as a way for people to experience the building one last time before it was torn down. However, Orgel and his son were impressed by the architecture and the building’s potential and purchased it for $825,000 in November of 2014. Since then they have embarked on a multiphase plan to reimagine and restore the venerable structure and surrounding properties.

By the beginning of 2017, much of the original building had been restored. Work was completed on a new adjoining building with high-end loft apartments, and tenants began moving in. Most of the original structure now houses offices for Orgel’s firm, Tower Ventures. These are not typical stuffy office environments though. The original exposed and unfinished walls, replete with graffiti, provide a unique backdrop throughout the building’s rooms. The original Ionic columns and the elaborate ironwork, which winds its way up the stairs of the four-story atrium, have been sandblasted and restored to their original dark hue. Exposed ductwork, and conduit run across the original barrel-vaulted ceilings. Glass walls and doors make the entire building feel open and they help showcase the improvements, which have remained true to the spirit and intent of the original structure.

The Brewery is the seventh historic building that Orgel and his development partners have saved and restored in the Memphis area. Their quest for historic redevelopment does not end here, as even more endeavors in the Memphis area are already underway.

For more info on the Brewery’s new upscale condos and apartments, visit their website HERE

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