Anheuser-Busch has quietly put its landmark Budweiser brewery in Fairfield up for sale, just days after telling city officials it would shut the operation down. The move suddenly turns a familiar stretch along Interstate 80 — and a site that brewed Budweiser for roughly 50 years — into one of the Bay Area’s largest industrial properties on the market.
According to the San Francisco Business Times, Anheuser-Busch has formally listed the Fairfield complex for sale. In company filings, the property is described as a roughly 170-acre campus at 3101 Busch Drive. The listing went live as the brewery winds down operations and is being marketed to both industrial users and potential redevelopment buyers, signaling that almost anything could be on the table for the sprawling site’s next act.
Anheuser-Busch notified Fairfield officials in December that the brewery would close, and the plant began winding down production. The last beers are set to roll off the line on Feb. 22, according to CBS Sacramento. The station, citing a WARN filing, reports that about 238 workers will be directly affected. The company says those employees are being offered roles at other U.S. facilities, though that likely means some tough commutes or full-on relocations for longtime local staffers.
Fairfield officials say the shutdown will do more than drain beer tanks. They’re bracing for hits to local tax and water revenues and, just as notably, the loss of a civic touchstone. The brewery’s rooftop holiday tree and appearances by the Budweiser Clydesdales have been part of the town’s seasonal calendar for decades, SFGate reports. Mayor Catherine Moy has called the loss “staggering,” and the city’s workforce board has projected multi-million-dollar revenue shortfalls tied to the shutdown.
Commercial real estate pros say whoever buys the Fairfield brewery is not exactly getting a plug-and-play warehouse. The facility’s size, maze of specialized tanks and heavy-duty supply infrastructure will make any conversion both costly and slow. Prospective buyers will also have to factor in zoning questions and environmental work before a new use can move forward. CoStar notes the Fairfield closure is part of a broader national consolidation in Anheuser-Busch’s footprint, with the company framing the move as one piece of a larger strategic shift in its U.S. operations.
What Comes Next
City leaders say they’re not content to just watch from the sidelines. Officials have asked Anheuser-Busch to connect them directly with the company’s real estate team as Fairfield explores possible new uses for the property, CBS Sacramento reports. Any sale or conversion is expected to take years, and would-be buyers will have to weigh whether to retrofit the existing large-scale brewing setup or dismantle it entirely before a new employer or developer can move in.…Read more by Emily Johnson