PORTLAND – Starting Sunday, Sebago Brewing Co. will not pour any beers in Portland for about a week.

The Gorham-based craft brewery and restaurant operator will close its Middle Street pub on Sunday as it moves to a new space.

Sebago Brewing will reopen Friday on the bottom floor of a new six-story building on the lot that was once home to Jordan’s Meats.

Tim Haines, a partner in Sebago Brewing, said the space at 211 Fore St. is more modern and comfortable than the Middle Street location, which opened 11 years ago. He said there will be better lighting, more windows, a roomier feel, and booths that can hold as many as 10 people.

The new restaurant has a stone fireplace, a back room for larger parties and a “cask cooler,” allowing Sebago to serve its naturally fermented, cask-conditioned ale.

“There will be much more booth space, and it’s more open and brighter and (there are) tons of windows,” Haines said.

The new 7,200-square-foot space has 200 seats (30 more than on Middle Street) and an additional 36 seats on the patio.

Sebago Brewing’s restaurant on Middle Street is 7,800 square feet spread over two floors; Haines said some of the space is used for offices and storage.

Sebago held an “End of An Era Party” Tuesday to commemorate 11 years on Middle Street. It plans to hold an open house at the Fore Street site next week.

Haines said Sebago’s sales are up 35 percent year to date and the company has expanded its distribution into Rhode Island and Connecticut.

Sebago also operates pubs in Gorham, Kennebunk and Scarborough.

The building in which Sebago will open has been under construction for about a year. The lot is bordered by Franklin, India, Middle and Fore streets.

The building’s largest tenant, a 122-room Hampton Inn hotel, is set to open for business by Aug. 3, said Greg Kirsch, legal counsel for Opechee Construction Corp, the building’s designer and developer.

Kirsch, who is also the hotel’s co-owner, said workers are completing the finishing touches, installing toilets, tile, wallpaper, light fixtures and carpet.

On the top floor are 12 condominiums, which sold within three weeks of being put on the market in September, said Kirsch. The condos ranged in price from about $210,000, for a one-bedroom unit, to $390,000 for two bedrooms.

Kirsch said the sale price of a corner condo was in the “upper $400,000” range.

Buyers will begin moving in around Labor Day.

Staff Writer Jonathan Hemmerdinger can be reached at 791-6316 or at:

jhemmerdinger@mainetoday.com

 

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