Downtown Lebanon redevelopment stretch could include microbrewery

In exchange, the city would split the cost of the 525 property, now the headquarters of Lebanon Landscaping, with Cohen’s company and split any proceeds from its resale.

“This is a concept we are working on with the developer,” City Manager Scott Brunka said during a Lebanon City Council work session on Tuesday.

Cohen’s crews have leveled the former city garage site in anticipation of construction at 511 No. Broadway, a mixture of townhomes and retail. The plan calls for the additional property to be developed as a retail outlot, while providing parking for the brewery and other businesses, including a Catch-A-Fire Pizza bar-restaurant to be built in front of the townhomes.

Nathan Ridgley, whose company owns the 0.3 acre 535 Broadway parcel, according to property records, declined to comment specifically on the brewery. The property currently includes a series of connected buildings next to the landscaping office.

“We are excited to get started in Lebanon soon,” Ridgley said in an email last month.

On Friday, city crews were working on light poles in front of the north end of the development, along a corridor expected to result in $25 million in development and include a new fire station on the former corner of the Warren County Fairgrounds, near the county’ new convention and exposition center. Much of the stormwater is to be funneled down to a new fishing pond in Colonial Park.

Already the streetscape in front of Berry Intermediate School has been turned into a new park connecting the existing downtown and 511 No. Broadway, anchored by 116 townhomes to be constructed on the rear section of the six-acre former city garage property. Across the street are the Broadway Barrelhouse and George & Underwood law office complex.