Bell said last spring he was freezing future investments and considering selling the state's oldest and largest brewery if he could not convince 11 shareholders to sell their holdings in the privately held company. In 2010, Bell announced plans to invest $52 million over the next six years. The company spent $20 million to expand its production facility that opened in the spring and more than $3 million on renovations to downtown Kalamazoo's Bell's Eccentric Cafe.
Bell said the company will spend between $10-$12 million this year on capital improvements, including three major projects at the Comstock facility and additional work to the cafe at 355 E. Kalamazoo Ave.
"I've been able to resolve some of the issues I had, and some of the concerns financial institutions had, so I can move forward," Bell said.
Bell said the brewery will add a waste-water system, a fermentation cellar and a canning line at the Comstock Township plant this year. He also plans to build at sports bar and a restaurant at the Cafe. Bell would not share how many of the investors accepted the latest offer. He wouldn't comment further on his statements last year about possibly selling the company, other than to say, "Bell's remains fiercely independent."
Bell said his goal is to have financing for the projects by April 1. He said he hopes to order the canning equipment in the late fall or early winter and to be canning by the time the brewery's top-selling beer, Oberon, is out in late March of 2014.
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