It was way back in 2013 that I looked at our first potential second tap room. La Cumbre was 2 years old and was experiencing triple-digit growth. I was still actually brewing beer 50+ hours/week and was completely over-whelmed with the job at hand. Organic growth seemed infinite, not only to La Cumbre, but to so many of the breweries that a 2nd tap room, despite all of the potential advantages, just was not a real priority to me. Another tap room could have been great, but I truly believe that when you load your plate up with more than a few things, just about everything you do… well… it sucks.
So it was not until 2015 that I felt any opportunity to step away from most of the day to day responsibilities of just running the business. By that point so much of the team that we currently have was in place and I felt a freedom to pursue other projects that I had never felt before. We expanded our brewery in a profound way that year. The next year we opened distribution in Colorado. The next year, Arizona. While I miss being on the brewhouse platform daily, it does allow for me to take on other things.
While I was working on those projects I looked at countless possible taproom locations. I looked all over. Paseo, Tramway, downtown, old town, all over Santa Fe, and yes, the West Side. I looked at the space that Lava Rock is going into. I looked at more former restaurants than I can count… and much to the chagrin of my very patient real estate broker, Kyla, none of them really spoke to me. Some of them, it was a landlord that didn’t seem at all motivated. Others were literally in the middle of nowhere. Others still were within a quarter mile of another good tap room. One after another, I shot them down.
And as I looked at what seemed like a dizzying number of spaces, an equally dizzying number of breweries and subsequent tap rooms opened. “You mean this is a crowded market Jeff?” Yeah, it’s pretty crowded.
When Kyla brought me the plans for Andalucia, I was immediately interested; bike access from the river trail, excellent traffic, an underserved part of town, new construction that was going to be done exceptionally well, a great anchor tenant in Sprouts, and a landlord that not only seemed motivated but one that seemed to legitimately want us there. It checked nearly every box I could have imagined.
So the lease has been signed for a 2,400 sf tap room space at the SE corner of Coors and Montaño. It will include an Eastern facing 900 sf (give or take, plans are not complete as of yet) patio space with views of the Sandias. We have hired an architect, submitted our license applications, interviewed general contractors… The ball is rolling. The landlord is actively finishing their portion of the build-out and once we have possession, we will complete the construction of the tap room and open as soon as possible thereafter.
“WHEN?!?!?” The million $ question. I wish I could say, but trust me when I say that no one in the world wants this tap room open more than I do. This will be my number one focus from now until the time that it opens.
To those of you (I can hear it now) that wonder why it took so long, I hope that this answers those questions. To those on the West Side of town that are excited to have our beers that much closer to home, trust me, not as excited as we are to bring them to you.
With all of my heart, I cannot wait to raise a pint once this new space is ready to share with you all.
Cheers!
