Hopworks plans new location on N Williams Ave

Hopworks would occupy a street-level
spot in this new building on Williams.
(Photos © J. Maus)

Nearly a year after we first noted the bike-oriented development taking place on N Williams Avenue, the trend is as strong as ever. Today we confirmed that, while the ink’s not quite dry on all the paperwork, Hopworks Urban Brewery (HUB) plans to be the latest bike-friendly business to open up on the street (thanks to PDX Eater for the tip).

The banner is already flying.

Now even more so.

I caught HUB owner Christian Ettinger on the phone this morning. He said he’s still working out some details, but it’s “pretty much guaranteed” that they’re moving into a spot in the new “bike-centric” EcoFlats building that is currently under construction between N. Failing and Shaver streets. HUB will be neighbors with Queen Bee Creations and United Bicycle Institute.

“We’ll have a drink rail along the sidewalk where you’ll be able to sit and watch bikes go by on Williams.”
— Christian Ettinger, Hopworks

EcoFlats is notable because developer Jean-Pierre Veillet is aiming to make it the “first mixed-use residential building in the nation to achieve a net-zero energy status,” according to the Daily Journal of Commerce. The building will also be oriented to tenants who use a bicycle as their primary mode of transport.

For Ettinger — one of the nation’s premier craft brewers, a bike racer, and a major supporter of the local bike scene — the location on Portland’s best bike street is a natural fit. “For us, it’s just such a great fit to be right next to UBI, on the bike highway, in a net energy zero building. It makes sense on many levels.”

Like his current location on SE Powell Blvd near 29th, the new HUB on Williams will feature many bike-centric touches.

Oregon Handmade Bicycle Show-17

Ettinger behind his ‘Bike Bar’ at the
2009 Oregon Handmade Bicycle Show.

Ettinger says he’s building a bike canopy over the bar which will feature Oregon-made frames donated from members of the Oregon Bicycle Constructors Association. “Imagine 30 frames worth $3,000 each over your head.” (The Southeast HUB has a bike canopy, but it’s made out of free-pile bikes.) There will be parking for 50 bicycles in the back of the restaurant and Ettinger says he’s building something called, “the pulpit” facing the sidewalk. “We’ll have a drink rail along the sidewalk where you’ll be able to sit and watch bikes go by on Williams.”

Ettinger is currently looking for an kinetic sculpture artist who can help him make a bike-powered sculpture that people can power while they’re at the bar or waiting for a table.

The lease on the new location is expected to be finalized in the next few weeks. The building is nearing completion and construction is expected to be completed by this spring. Stay tuned for more details once opening day gets closer.

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Founder of BikePortland (in 2005). Father of three. North Portlander. Basketball lover. Car owner and driver. If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, feel free to contact me at @jonathan_maus on Twitter, via email at maus.jonathan@gmail.com, or phone/text at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and appreciate this site, please become a supporter.

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chrisgunn
chrisgunn
13 years ago

This rules!

A.K.
A.K.
13 years ago

Awesome! Not only is HUB’s Seven Grain stout my current favorite beer, it will be *awesome* to not have to deal with Powell (a real PITA by car or bike).

Jim F
Jim F
13 years ago

Awesome. 5 minutes from my house. And on my daily commute route. Can’t wait.

aljee
aljee
13 years ago

YES!

skyc
skyc
13 years ago

Sounds cool, till I read about the $90,000 bike frame canopy… isn’t that a bit wasteful?

dan
dan
13 years ago
Reply to  skyc

I had the same reaction. Now, if the frames were for sale, it would be pretty cool!

Of course, you have to be a little concerned about the inevitable result of drinking while surrounded by high-zoot bike gear… “Sorry honey, I had too many beers last night and bought another frame.”

Lance P
Lance P
13 years ago
Reply to  skyc

Typo: $3000 was the total for the canopy. Not for each frame.

Schrauf
Schrauf
13 years ago
Reply to  Lance P

No, it reads $3,000 each frame. Regardless, if these are not junk frames, I hope all that valuable metal is included in the “net zero” calculation of this building.

April
13 years ago
Reply to  skyc

That’s what I was going to say! I’d rather the decorative bike frames be junk (crappy made or broken or both), good bicycle frames should be turned into bikes and ridden by someone!!

skyc
skyc
13 years ago
Reply to  April

Totally… it seems like this is going beyond just celebrating bicycles and becoming more like glorifying them.

jean pierre Veillet
13 years ago
Reply to  skyc

I think that this was a mis quoted interpretation thing. All the frames are being donated by Oregons great frame builders in their support of the bike centric brewery Christian has creaed

Adams Carroll (News Intern)

thanks for that jean pierre… I’ve added the word “donated” to that line in the story. It’s great to see you working to incorporate bicycles into this development. Look forward to meeting you.

Chrystal
Chrystal
13 years ago

This will be great! It’s just a few blocks north of my daily commute to work. It will be nice having a place like this close for after work chillin.

rhoneyfi
rhoneyfi
13 years ago

I honestly think that this will make me bike more often as it will be pretty easy for me to get to!

Burk
Burk
13 years ago

Yes! I do second the WTF about the $90,000 bike canopy thing though…

Random_rider
Random_rider
13 years ago

Wow. The 5th Quad right next door can’t be happy about this

John Lascurettes
13 years ago

Hoorah! Will love this as it’s just off my evening commute.

Thomas Le Ngo
13 years ago

Next to the 5th Quadrant and Pix? This is getting to be an even better opportunity for late night pedicab service.

Andrew Kreps
Andrew Kreps
13 years ago

I’ll laugh if their new ‘location’ is just a small fleet of HUB Beer-fiets parked on the sidewalk. And then I’ll have a pint of the Chris King, please.

thefuture
thefuture
13 years ago

YES….DO THIS HOPWORKS….the other one was way too far away from NE.

M.A.
M.A.
13 years ago

I’m still hoping for a Gluten free tasty – even though I LOVE HUB. But, drinking the proper one sure would make me feel better. This is super close- yay! Will be going either way. Even if I order salads. 😉
I’m already trying to visualize a sculpture…

She
She
13 years ago

I second the vote for Gluten Free beer. Deschutes has one, it would be great for other brewers to follow suit and develop GF beers!

Joel Grover
13 years ago
Reply to  She

+1…I THIRD THAT! and great location.

Crash N. Burns
Crash N. Burns
13 years ago

It’s Hopworks Urban Brewery.
Not to be confused with the actual HUB building just down the block, which once was a bicycle factory and is home to many fine businesses that also serve food and alcohol. Personally, for a beer, I’ll pedal straight past this new Hopworks on the way to Prost or Saraveza.

April
13 years ago

I’m glad they’re finally going to be in a place that’s actually easy to get to by bicycle! I used to live close to their location on Powell, and I still walked most of the time because it was such a hassle to get their via bicycle.

I’d like to point out, also, that the last few times I went, their vegan options had increased and improved, which also makes me more likely to stop there! And, of course, the beer is pretty good too.

sabernar
sabernar
13 years ago

I hope the flagship spot isn’t going to be neglected.

Ed
13 years ago

Oh awesome! So glad they are opening one in my hood.

Paul Johnson
Paul Johnson
13 years ago

Now, are these going to be affordable units, or expensive yuppie-oriented flats for people who what to buy the image and talk the talk, but not walk the walk?

Nickey Robo
Nickey Robo
13 years ago

Wow. Everyone is celebrating. I’m a little shocked…

Because really, does the neighborhood need YET ANOTHER bar? It’s on literally the same block as 5th Quadrant and Pix, and one block away is Eat (the oyster bar), and two blocks away is that new sports bar (I think it’s called Maui’s?). As a neighbor, I just can’t be enthused about one more bar going in. Much more useful to the neighborhood would be a small grocery store, a book store, a low-cost health clinic- even a clothing store would be something different and more useful than another bar.

beth h
13 years ago
Reply to  Nickey Robo

Yeah, it looks like nearly everyone IS celebrating.

I agree that a low-cost health clinic or even several blocks of affordable housing would be better.

In another five years, enough new people will have moved here, and enough property will have been redeveloped, to completely erase the memory of a time when inner NE Portland was a predominantly poor and mostly black neighborhood. Once upon a time black families bought houses here because they weren’t being shown properties anywhere else. Now they are being pushed out by rising property taxes and home prices and the lack of affordable housing. Looking around significant chunks of inner NE Portland today, you would hardly know of that history unless you really went looking for it.

The relatively short time it’s taken to effect this change is shocking to someone who’s lived in Portland since 1975.

spare_wheel
spare_wheel
13 years ago
Reply to  beth h

i’m confident that the PDC will address the “cleansing” of nopo by building more low income mixed-use condos (as they did in the pearl).

A.K.
A.K.
13 years ago
Reply to  beth h

So a LOCAL business owner should not be allowed to used the capital they have created to open a new businesses location, that will employ more people?

Should a special zoning area be set up in NE, to keep it insulated from development? Or just certain TYPES of development?

No one is keeping a grocery store or low cost housing from being built. Should the owner of HUB feel BAD that they are expanding their business? Or should they not develop their business further? Is one location enough? Should they be restricted from building in certain areas because of how they “used” to be?

rigormrtis
rigormrtis
13 years ago
Reply to  beth h

You talk as if gentrification is a bad thing. People had the opportunity to maintain their neighborhoods and did not. Decay, and then gentrification is the natural result of that.

Paul Johnson
Paul Johnson
13 years ago
Reply to  rigormrtis

Californication is a bad thing, and I’m a little disappointed in the HUB that they’re supporting it in action. You can’t expect people with no resources to magically fix something that even they think is broken, and by displacing more low-income housing instead of making it better is simply making Portland less livable and more like Disneyland.

TonyT
tonyt
13 years ago
Reply to  Nickey Robo

“Much more useful to the neighborhood would be a small grocery store, a book store, a low-cost health clinic- even a clothing store would be something different and more useful than another bar.”

Open one then.

Whyat
Whyat
13 years ago

Awesome. I almost never hit the Powell location due to the distance from my house. Is this location going to have pizza as well? One can only hope.

esther c
esther c
13 years ago

Oh lordy, I do love their beers. Organic!!

I hope there isn’t too much competition on the corner for the other great bidnesses like 5th Quadrant.

A quick bike ride from my home in the hood.

Prost may be a nice building but it feels like a meat market inside and there is not a single beer on their menu with “hops” or “hoppy” in the description. What’s up with that? Nothing for ale drinkers. Yes I know they’re German beers. But that’s what’s wrong with the place. Why drink imported beers when you live in Portland OR. Its a matter of taste I know and my taste is ales.

So I’m thinking this is good news. I hope it isn’t bad news for 5th Quadrant and the other established businesses.

jim
jim
13 years ago
Reply to  esther c

This will be nothing but good news for 5th quadrant and all other nearby business’s. The better Hub does the more people will also go into all of the area business’s

Paul Johnson
Paul Johnson
13 years ago
Reply to  jim

It’s not going to have as many customers as it could if people are paying too much on housing and not getting paid enough at work, which is a chronic problem in Portland. Californication works against local businesses on both fronts.

Paul Johnson
Paul Johnson
13 years ago

beth h
Yeah, it looks like nearly everyone IS celebrating.
I agree that a low-cost health clinic or even several blocks of affordable housing would be better.

Not to rain on HUB’s parade, but it’s too bad the zoning commission didn’t think so.

In another five years, enough new people will have moved here, and enough property will have been redeveloped, to completely erase the memory of a time when inner NE Portland was a predominantly poor and mostly black neighborhood.

“Let’s Californicate the last remaining part of Portland with any sort of heritage left.”

Once upon a time black families bought houses here because they weren’t being shown properties anywhere else. Now they are being pushed out by rising property taxes and home prices and the lack of affordable housing. Looking around significant chunks of inner NE Portland today, you would hardly know of that history unless you really went looking for it.

Portlanders of all races, actually. About the only folks who can afford Portland are independently wealthy, usually Californian, tourists that forgot to go home when they’re done visiting.

The relatively short time it’s taken to effect this change is shocking to someone who’s lived in Portland since 1975.

Imagine if you’re a native to the city.

Duncan
Duncan
13 years ago
Reply to  Paul Johnson

Paul aboput your housing comment. It is total BS> I am not been, nor have I ever been rich. I got zero money from my family. Despite not being a Dr or a lawyer I bought a house in Portland. How? Because it was my priority! I saved, paid off bad debts, picked a house I could afford. No it was not a “Trendy” neighborhood but it wasnt Gresham either… houses in Portland will probably never be under 100K again, but with some preperation and work most people can get a home if they really want it.

Paul Johnson
Paul Johnson
13 years ago
Reply to  Duncan

I’m saying that Portland housing is unaffordably expensive and has been heading that way for at least 15 years, even if you do make it a priority. $600 for a moldy one bedroom apartment is expensive no matter how you cut it (and that’s the lowest price for housing I’ve found in Portland), you should be able to get a at least a decent sized family house with a yard for that price anywhere but Lake Oswego and the west hills. This kind of outrageous overpricing is going to lead to a housing collapse like we’ve never seen at best, and Portland becoming the next Detroit in terms of vacancies at worst.

Meanwhile, for $545, you can lease get a thousand-square-foot loft in a good neighborhood with a view of the Tulsa skyline, walking distance to major employers and amenities, and that price range rightfully falls into the “luxury” category, or if you prefer to have a commute, five acres of lakefront property with a small cabin and a boat pier lease-to-own on Keystone Lake.

Paul Johnson
Paul Johnson
13 years ago
Reply to  Paul Johnson

Just to name names: I’m talking Rachel Anne in Gresham and Vista Shadow Mountain in Tulsa.

rigormrtis
rigormrtis
13 years ago
Reply to  Duncan

Duncan, where is your sense of entitlement? I mean, working for something? That’s so plebeian.

Paul Johnson
Paul Johnson
13 years ago

The smart money is on the expensive yuppie flats. Because image is everything and memory is short.

@beth h: That’s definitely a problem when Californication passes a point of no return. It makes me weep for the future.

rigormrtis
rigormrtis
13 years ago
Reply to  Paul Johnson

image is everything……and that totally applies to hipsters too.

jason
jason
13 years ago

On a much nicer street than powell too! I always have disliked powell and thought it was a terrible place for a ‘bike-bar’.

I understand Powell is a highway, but it is very dangerous for bikes and pedestrians. I wish they would convert it much like Interstate…or slow it down somehow.

Regardless, I live in N/NE (my favorite part of town) and I will be walking over to Williams a lot more this summer!

Thanks for the new location!

Paul Johnson
Paul Johnson
13 years ago
Reply to  jason

Powell would probably move a lot more smoothly if they pulled a Vancouver, Canada and made the right lane a shared bus/bicycle/taxi/carpool lane…

spare_wheel
spare_wheel
13 years ago

Duncan
houses in Portland will probably never be under 100K again.

Give it another ten years, duncan.

Paul Johnson
Paul Johnson
13 years ago
Reply to  spare_wheel

At the present rate of Californication, then you’ll have to pay $1200/mo to rent at 162nd and Burnside and you won’t find anything under a quarter million for sale.

beth h
13 years ago
Reply to  Paul Johnson

162nd and Burnside used to be part of unincorporated Multnomah Co., served by a hodge-podge of service from Portland and Gresham. Today it’s the city line between Portland and Gresham, and nothing in east county is “unincorporated” anymore.

That said, as long as Bikeportland is trumpeting all the new bike-friendly development in inner N/NE Portland, perhaps a deeper exploration of bike-friendly development east of 122nd is in order. Especially since more and more folks who used to live closer in to downtown Portland are relocating there for more affordable housing. How about it, Jonathan? Let’s see what’s happening for bicyclists and pedestrians in east county. I’m sure I’m not the only one who’d welcome such an article.

Yaright
Yaright
13 years ago

Yeah Christian ! glad you’re coming over to this neck of the woods….. ignore the naysayers
Jerry will just have to step his place… there is room for all

michael
michael
13 years ago

I’m surprised to read a reference to Williams as “portland’s best bike street.”

I ride daily on williams from Broadway to Shaver and find it to be quite dangerous and hectic. 2 lanes of traffic, parked cars on both sides of the street and a bike lane is a lot of activity for a fairly narrow street. Add it all up and unfortunately I think it’s a recipe for disaster. Hopefully, the city will change the street before a cyclist gets clipped by a car door or moving vehicle, or even a nother cyclist – as riders often pass each other pretty darn close on Williams.

Paul Johnson
Paul Johnson
13 years ago

beth h
162nd and Burnside used to be part of unincorporated Multnomah Co., served by a hodge-podge of service from Portland and Gresham. Today it’s the city line between Portland and Gresham, and nothing in east county is “unincorporated” anymore.

Multnomah County Line is at the Sandy River/East 282nd Avenue? When did this change, and why didn’t I get the memo?

That said, as long as Bikeportland is trumpeting all the new bike-friendly development in inner N/NE Portland, perhaps a deeper exploration of bike-friendly development east of 122nd is in order. Especially since more and more folks who used to live closer in to downtown Portland are relocating there for more affordable housing. How about it, Jonathan? Let’s see what’s happening for bicyclists and pedestrians in east county. I’m sure I’m not the only one who’d welcome such an article.

And preferably something that doesn’t involve breaking things worse than they were before.