A loan was officially approved by the JLDC for the opening of a new brewery, 137 Water Street Brewing Company. P-J file photo

The 137 Water Street Brewing Company is a small step closer to reality.

The Jamestown Local Development Corporation discussed the project with the brewing company’s owners in September. Last week, the JLDC approved a loan to help the owners of the company open the business soon.

Chase Churchill and Jake Berg both appeared at Wednesday’s JLDC. Churchill presented the board with conceptual drawings of their plans for the building, showing specifically the exterior with landscaping plans along with design concepts for the interior of the building.

Churchill said there have been some developments since the pair’s last visit, including tours of the property by some city officials. He mentioned once concern that came up regarding being next to the Riverwalk and how they will handle the setback regulations for the Riverwalk, which Berg said there is a plan for, including some things that can be in that zone.

“Since we met last we had a tree service come and remove a lot of the trees that were hanging over the property, causing some nuisance and possibly causing some destabilization of the bank,” Churchill said. “We had a lot of the stumps ground down.”

Churchill said to help with the parking situation they also had a company come and scrape back some of the grass that had pavement underneath it. There is now more parking than originally thought. There was also a concern last time about zoning, but Churchill said he did not think they would need a zoning variance as the previous business that was in the building did essentially the same thing that they are planning to do in brewing spirits there.

Additionally, Churchill said they did another scrub down of the financials and talked with some other small breweries outside of the local area.

“I think our numbers are a lot closer in line to where they should’ve been the first time,” Churchill said.

Aili Makuh, city economic development director, said that the approval of the loan from the JLDC is contingent on approval from the city Planning Commission. The earliest the project can appear before the Planning Commission is November. The project needs to go in front of the Planning Commission as it is in the Waterfront Development Overlay District.

The loan itself is for $200,000 for ten years at a four percent interest rate. It will be used to help with renovation of the building at 137 Water Street as well as other expenditures with opening the business. With the loan being over $100,000 it will also need to go before and be approved by the City Council.

Questions arose about employment and benefits, along with cash flow, and a few other aspects.

The business is in talks with the Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency about a loan and has two grant requests in to New York state, though Churchill said the project will go forward even if they do not get awarded the grant.

After a few more questions on finances and other items, the JLDC approved the loan request for 137 Water Street Brewing Company, with the contingencies of approval by Planning Commission and City Council. The earliest Churchill said they hope to be able to have the business open by is summer 2026.