Crux Fermentation Project Closing Portland Location after Selling Original Bend, Oregon Property
Crux Fermentation Project is off to a tumultuous 2025 with the recent sale of their Bend, Oregon property and the upcoming closure of their Portland taproom and restaurant.
Roughly a year after putting up their Bend, Oregon property for sale, Crux Fermentation Project has found a buyer. First listed by Bend’s Compass Commercial Real Estate in 2024, the listing was for the entire 1.57 acre of land that Crux was founded on in 2012, including their 8,816 sq. ft. taproom and restaurant - but not the company itself. The original asking price of $5.5 million, found a buyer at a lower $4.4 million to Pacific Foods of Oregon co-founder Jonathan Gehrs, and his daughter Molly Hummel. The sale included a guaranteed leaseback to Crux Fermentation Project to operate for the foreseeable future, or atleast until their new lease runs out. But we are already seeing the cost cutting initiatives that preceded the decision to sell the assets to begin with.
Last week Crux’s original showpiece copper brewhouse was pulled out of the Bend brewpub to be relocated to their off-site production facility. That space inside the taproom will now be leased out to up to two new retail tenants. On the positive side Crux will be able to save money by leasing back a smaller square footage and not dealing with all the gas and electric bills of the brewery, meanwhile the public may be able to indulge in a coffee shop or something like that which would find the location appealing. On the negative side, we will no longer get beer from the serving tanks or marvel at that beautiful German built brewhouse.
Crux Portland Pub
Crux is also calling it quits on their Portland, Oregon location opened in June of 2023 at the former Vagabond Brewing location at 2715 SE 8th Ave #175, Portland, OR 97202. The full service restaurant, taproom, with liquor, was their best bet for reconnecting with consumers in Oregon’s largest city as draft beer sales continue to flounder. When first announced, Crux Portland was supposed to eventually have its own dedicated pilot brewhouse. Though it was located near the busy SE Division food and drink corridor walking distance from The Beermongers and Baerlic Brewing, the more industrial building was awkwardly wedged between the busy Powell boulevard / Ross Island Bridge commuter thoroughfare to the south, and the train tracks to the pubs north that slow both walking and driving traffic. Crux Portland was never able to pick up steam with workers and residents during the weekdays, and will now close for good after service on Sunday March 30th 2025.
All of the cost cutting measures are likely a smart strategic move to right side the brand which has seen a considerable reduction in demand for their draft products and core beers while the non-alcoholic category grows. By significantly reducing their cost of operation, Crux is said to be reinvesting in their NØ MØ line of N/A beers which have proven popular in grocery stores, and setting up a 401(k) savings plan for employees. That latter move is likely a response to the narrowly averted workers strike after staff at the Bend brewpub announced plans to unionize in 2022.