We now have a property!

[Bartletts Distillery]

Well folks, it finally happened…we finally closed on our property for the new Bartletts Distillery. The location is at 1303 Beach Airport Road, deep in the heart of Montgomery County in Conroe, Texas. Today, we took posession of the property once the loan funded and I'll pick up the keys from the title company in the morning.

It's been an extremely long road to get to this point.  We looked at MANY properties and actually pursued several.  They all fell through for one reason or another.  I finally found this property up in Conroe.  While I had originally planned on leasing, this was a purchase too good to pass up.  It has two buildings, allowing me to store enough in barrels without having to have sprinklers.  It's got access to city utilities, and it's not next to a church, school, or hospital.  Hey, if you're in Montgomery County, Texas, that can really limit your options sometimes.

We first viewed the property on April 28, 2017, and it took FIVE MONTHS to close on the property.  At first it was issues with the seller needing to clean the property before we could have it inspected.  Then it was getting a loan on my part.  In the end, after beating down all the walls, dodging all the bullets, and leaping over all the pits, we finally got it closed on Friday, September 29, 2017 and it funded today.

We have a lot of work to do before we can start cooking booze. Order still, paperwork, spend money, paperwork, tear out, paperwork, clean up, spend money, paperwork, file for federal DSP, file for state, spend money, more paperwork, more cleaning & remodeling and spend more money.

I’m ordering a 100 gallon 4-plated still from Paul Hall at Affordable Distillery Equipment. It’s not a huge still, but it’s big enough to get us going without the huge expense of a boiler room. That’ll come later. Once I get the serial numbers, then I can apply for the Federal DSP permit.  I'm also ordering some goodies for the online store.  My accountant says I need SOME income this year for tax purposes.  Selling tee shirts does qualify as income.

Woohoo! Here we go!

bartlettsdistillery.com

Cheers!

Van

[Mr_Whiskey]

Congrats on the step forward Van! Onward and upward

 

[stillcreek]

Congrats - I'd leased you one down the road -   Check with the Fire Marshall soon since your inside the City limits - one of the distilleries just got hit with a ton of improvements after about a years operation - you avoid that stuff being in the county - another one got hit with having to build a blast proof room for their grain processing - Big Thicket was close to you - they had a nice place 

[et1883]

Congrats, Van!  We've looked at over 30+ sites, most not "as described" by realtors to put it diplomatically, some located next to unsuitable neighbors, and one which went up $100k overnight when the seller found he might actually have a buyer.  Add one which boasted 4000 sq ft, but turned out to be 2000 sq ft with a raised mezzanine which blocked all the bay doors.  One had vermin, both small and large.   Not easy!  We have yet one more site in mind we're looking at, and huge THANKS to you and others in sharing experiences in due diligence and approaches to approvals, lease/buy and timing.  Best of luck with your licensing! 

[MG Thermal Consulting]

Congrats!! If you need a cooling system down the road, please contact me.  I do have a few of Paul's customers as clients for my services as well.