Take Hwy 55 north out of Boise, and a few miles up the road, just past Shadow Valley golf course, is the “Planned Community”, Avimor. Construction on the development began in earnest in 2005. In the 20 years since, over 800 homes have been constructed. Avimor is now home to about 1500 residents.
Partnership
In August of 2020, long-time friends, Jeff Badigian and Marc Grubert opened Spring Creek Brewing Company, located right at the Avimore entrance, just off of the highway. Since then, there has been some talk about the two partners’ differing opinions of what form the establishment would take. Jeff wanting a more restaurant/brewpub kind of place, and Marc feeling that maybe a more strictly taproom would be better. Known together at the beginning as co-founders, it was Jeff who ran the place moving forward. He was, in fact, the head brewer as well for the several years they were open.
In real estate, the mantra is location, location, location. I always thought that Spring Creek was perfectly situated. Surrounded by several hundred homes, and 5 or 10 miles from the nearest commercial restaurants and businesses… and frankly, competition. With the Avimor community still growing, it seemed simple to me from the beginning, Spring Creek could/would be a central hub. A meeting place and beer spot for a community for at least a few thousand people.
Beer, Menu, and Live Music
As a Boise guy, Spring Creek was a bit off the beaten track for me, but I still made it out there on many occasions. For their beer and a few times for lunch or dinner menu items, and I was never disappointed. The beer choices included some regulars and mainstays that you would expect to find, but also a few experiments and “wild hairs”. It was always worth the drive. They often hosted live music there, and I even organized a gathering of visiting family there last year. We saw Andrew Chappell, local country musician, had pizza and beer, and a great time.
Today was Spring Creek’s last day open to the public, and when I visited them the weekend prior, I got a chance to chat with one of the staff for quite a while. I came away after that feeling bad for the way it all shook out. I often find that all too often it is not enough to be a passionate, skilled brewer, finally “turning pro” when partnerships sour, property and financing deals don’t turn out like you hoped, or were promised. Then you have to finally throw in the towel at the end. Even after 5 years.
Spring Creek was a fun spot, a great idea, and I had no complaints about any of my experiences there. I’ve met Jeff a few times over the years and hope that he hits the ground running and we see him in the craft beer business again. Assuming he is not turned off by the whole thing now. I probably would be. It’s my understanding that Avimor, or its parent company, will be retaining ownership of the building, and I, for one, will be curious to see what comes out of that.
Here’s to 5 years and lately I feel like I’ve been saying/writing this a lot lately, it’s been a good run.
-Cheers
