The Charlotte Observer reports that a recent report prepared by the University of Toledo reveals that homes located within half a mile of where a craft beer brewery opened showed an increase in value of almost 10%. Data was collected from homes sold from 2002-2017. Craft beer has been booming in the area, with 35 breweries opening since 2009. The report states, "While many areas in close proximity to a craft brewery appear to have been associated with relatively higher price premiums even before the opening of the brewery, breweries tend to add to this premium, especially to condominiums in center‐city neighborhoods."
In neighborhoods all over the city, from West End to Villa Heights, breweries have moved in, repurposing old warehouses and industrial buildings and serving as a marker for hipness. That hipness is defined as other new business, for instance the restaurants and clothing stores in Atherton Mill, just a few blocks away from a handful of breweries such as Sycamore and Wooden Robot.
“Our idea is, craft breweries are perceived differently from typical neighborhood bars or liquor stores. They’re seen as a neighborhood amenity,” said Neil Reid, director of the Urban Affairs Center at the University of Toledo and one of the report’s authors. Another of the report’s authors is Isabelle Nilsson, a professor of geography and earth sciences at UNC Charlotte. Her interest stems from the fact that home values have been surging in areas close to uptown.
Private and public investment, such as the extension of the light rail, has spurred change in close-in neighborhoods even before breweries open. Breweries add to the property-value increase, Nilsson said. “These areas around breweries have been seeing other changes even before the brewery was open,” she said. “What we find is breweries add on to the premium.”
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