Just a couple of months after Anheuser-Busch announced it would be closing its Fairfield facility and ceasing production in the Bay Area, the world’s largest brewing company is now planning to put its 170-acre Budweiser factory on the market.
The San Francisco Business Times first reported the news that the beer giant, which had been operating the landmark factory on the side of Interstate 80 since 1976, has tapped real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield to market the facility ahead of its slated closure on Feb. 22. The property at 3103 Busch Dr. is not yet named among the listings for lease on Cushman & Wakefield’s website; SFGATE reached out to the firm, as well as Anheuser-Busch, for more information and did not immediately hear back.
In December, Anheuser-Busch announced it had “taken steps to update and modernize our U.S. manufacturing operations” over the last five years, investing nearly $2 billion in the 100 facilities it manages across the country. After a “thorough review,” the company decided to shutter the Bay Area plant. It is also closing a brewery in New Hampshire and selling another plant in New Jersey, ultimately shifting production to other facilities.
“These changes will enable us to invest even more in our remaining operations and in our portfolio of growing, industry-leading brands,” an Anheuser-Busch spokesperson told SFGATE via email at the time.
According to a WARN notice, 238 employees were laid off from the plant; the company told SFGATE that all of them would be offered full-time roles at other plants across the country. The news followed the closure of the Anheuser-Busch’s Oakland distribution center in 2022, when 142 other employees lost their jobs.
Fairfield Mayor Catherine Moy wrote on Facebook that the loss of the facility would be “staggering,” estimating tax losses to be around $10.7 million for the local government and $8.9 million for the state. “It is devastating,” she said in a Dec. 12 post. “We are most concerned about the folks who are losing their jobs or having to relocate. My heart aches for them.”
SFGATE attempted to reach Moy for comment on the plant going up for sale and what the property could become in the future but did not hear back by time of publication.
Anheuser-Busch is owned by Belgium’s AB InBev, which became the largest brewing company in the world following the acquisition in 2008. Anheuser-Busch is headquartered in St. Louis, and the company makes Budweiser, Stella Artois, Bud Light, Michelob Ultra and Rolling Rock beers.
SFGATE food reporter Nico Madrigal-Yankowski contributed to this report.
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