Motorworks Brewing faces foreclosure, risking Bradenton flagship and events

A foreclosure case filed against Motorworks Brewing now puts Bradenton’s flagship taproom, beer garden and events business at the center of a fight over nearly $2 million. The lender, Seacoast National Bank, filed suit on May 21 seeking repayment on four loans tied to Motorworks Brewing LLC and Princess T LLC, with the possibility of a property sale, a deficiency judgment and even eviction of tenants.

At stake is far more than a brewery building. Motorworks’ Bradenton home at 1014 Ninth St. W., near LECOM Park, is a 27,000-square-foot operation that functions as a production site, taproom, beer garden and live-entertainment venue all at once. The property’s stage, food-truck activity and regular events have long made it one of the most visible gathering places in Manatee County’s beer scene, so a court-ordered change in control could disrupt beer sales, concerts and the events calendar together.

The legal pressure lands on a site that Motorworks has built into its identity. Founder Frank Tschida discovered the restored 1923 former Hudson Motors dealership in 2012, then opened the Bradenton brewery in 2014 around the building’s industrial bones, including the concrete ramp and high ceilings that inspired the Motorworks name and hood-ornament logo. The company says the brand has since grown to three locations, adding Tampa and an airport outpost at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport.

Motorworks has also carried the weight of being first. It has described itself as the first brewery to open in Bradenton and Manatee County, a milestone that gave the brand an early anchor when craft beer was still finding its footing in Florida. By early 2015, the brewery had already logged a bronze medal at the Great American Beer Festival, and its first anniversary celebration on January 24, 2015, featured live music, beer flights and a Carrot Cake Ale release.

That mix of beer and entertainment is exactly why the foreclosure case matters to local customers, mug-club members and staff. CraftBeer.com once highlighted Motorworks as a place where an outdoor stage and live music ran nearly every day of the week, and the Bradenton site has remained a regional draw for both pint pours and event traffic. If the flagship site is forced into a sale or change of control, the hit would reach beyond one tap list and into one of Bradenton’s best-known beer-and-music rooms.