By Brian Wellmeier

FCN Regional Staff

NoFo, the Cumming-based brewery, got a big financial boost Tuesday for its second site in Gainesville.  

The Gainesville City Council approved $700,000 to help cover the brewery’s costs. NoFo is in a tax allocation district, which is referred to as TAD. A TAD involves public financing of projects that help increase property values in blighted areas.

 According to city officials, the funding will provide a tax rebate for a 12-year period for site improvements at 434 High St. SE. NoFo, which is short for “North Forsyth,” hopes to open the location in April 2023, renovating a 18,214-square-foot industrial warehouse.

 City officials cited expectations the new brewery will enhance the downtown scene and potential revenue as motivators for approving the project.

 “If you look at the development that we’ve had, it’s directly because of the foresight that these previous councils had to put the TAD in place,” Gainesville Mayor Sam Couvillon said. “…I think the NoFo brewery is going to be a game-changer. I think it just enhances the community as a whole.”

 The $700,000 investment by the city is expected to provide a range of site improvements, including parking, grading, exterior painting, electrical work, window, door and railing installation, landscaping and site demolition. Costs for roofing and other exterior enhancements will be reimbursed to the company in two annual payments of $92,500 for the first and second year. Reimbursement for the 3-12 year period will be “distributed on an annual basis based on the TAD increment generated by the project for that calendar year,” according to city officials.

Reimbursement payments won’t begin until a certificate of occupancy for the project is granted by the city. The timeframe of the $700,000 reimbursements won’t “exceed a period of 12 calendar years,” according to the resolution.

This story originally ran in The Gainesville Times.