STEPPING UP — Morgan Crisp and Frank Bonomo, along with their two spouses, have been reinvesting profits from Frog Level Brewing into property acquisitions with the goal of revitalizing Frog Level.
OASIS — The rambling beer garden along the banks of Richland Creek behind Frog Level Brewing is a popular destination. An expansion of the beer garden was made possible this year thanks to a lease acquisition of a large building next door.
CHUGGING ALONG — Cans of 7 Clans Blonde Ale make their way down the production line at Frog Level Brewing in Waynesville. The brewery has two production lines: the Frog Level Brewing line and the 7 Clans Brewing line, which has statewide distribution and a serves a retail storefront in Asheville.
PRIMED FOR DEVELOPMENT — Despite being a stone’s throw from downtown, Frog Level has yet to capture foot traffic from Main Street. A team of local investors hope to change that.
OASIS IN TOWN — Morgan Crisp and Frank Bonomo, along with their two spouses, have been reinvesting profits from Frog Level Brewing into property acquisitions with the goal of revitalizing Frog Level. Their expanded beer garden along Richland Creek was made possible by leasing a large building beside the brewery.
ALL IN A DAY’S WORK — Frog Level Brewing’s head brewer Matt Norman oversees production of two beer lines: the Frog Level Brewing line and the 7 Clans Brewing line, which has statewide distribution and a new storefront in Asheville.
STEPPING UP — Morgan Crisp and Frank Bonomo, along with their two spouses, have been reinvesting profits from Frog Level Brewing into property acquisitions with the goal of revitalizing Frog Level.
OASIS — The rambling beer garden along the banks of Richland Creek behind Frog Level Brewing is a popular destination. An expansion of the beer garden was made possible this year thanks to a lease acquisition of a large building next door.
CHUGGING ALONG — Cans of 7 Clans Blonde Ale make their way down the production line at Frog Level Brewing in Waynesville. The brewery has two production lines: the Frog Level Brewing line and the 7 Clans Brewing line, which has statewide distribution and a serves a retail storefront in Asheville.
PRIMED FOR DEVELOPMENT — Despite being a stone’s throw from downtown, Frog Level has yet to capture foot traffic from Main Street. A team of local investors hope to change that.
OASIS IN TOWN — Morgan Crisp and Frank Bonomo, along with their two spouses, have been reinvesting profits from Frog Level Brewing into property acquisitions with the goal of revitalizing Frog Level. Their expanded beer garden along Richland Creek was made possible by leasing a large building beside the brewery.
ALL IN A DAY’S WORK — Frog Level Brewing’s head brewer Matt Norman oversees production of two beer lines: the Frog Level Brewing line and the 7 Clans Brewing line, which has statewide distribution and a new storefront in Asheville.
Two anchor buildings in Frog Level have been purchased by the owners of Frog Level Brewing, signaling hope that the long-awaited renaissance of the old warehouse and railroad district may finally be realized.
The two prominent buildings sit catty corner to the main intersection in Frog Level, placing them at the center of its untapped potential. The new owners plan to renovate the historic buildings and rent out the storefronts to businesses that compliment their vision for Frog Level.
“It’s a funky, eclectic vibe we want to create, a community hub of artists and makers. We hope to be the catalyst of that,” said Morgan Crisp, one of the four owners.
The local couples behind Frog Level Brewing — Frank and Julia Bonomo and Travis and Morgan Crisp — have put every dime they’ve made off the brewery into Frog Level’s future.
Their latest acquisitions are merely pieces of a larger puzzle. The Crisps and Bonomos now control roughly two-thirds of the property in Frog Level — including two uninterrupted blocks along Commerce Street and another two blocks of hop-scotching properties along Depot Street.
They plan to recruit tenants that ensure diversity and avoid competition, like not renting to two bookstores, for example.
“We want the businesses to have a symbiotic relationship,” Bonomo said. “It’s an exciting time for Frog Level, and we want to attract people who will add to that excitement.”
The story is similar to Hazelwood’s revitalization, where a single property owner, John Burgin, systematically bought up vacant buildings, restoring them one by one.
When buying the brewery in 2020, the couples didn’t set out to become the architects of Frog Level’s revitalization. But seeing vacant properties languish, they realized someone had to do something, and that someone was them.
“We looked at each other one day and said ‘What are we going to do?’ We decided we had to do it ourselves to make this area better,” Frank Bonomo said. “It was a calling.”
Over the past two years, they have scooped up seven properties in Frog Level. They’ve purchased three separate parcels on the left side of Depot Street, plus the two main corner buildings.
Meanwhile, they have long-term leases for adjoining properties on both sides of the brewery: a storefront on one side used to expand the brewery’s seating capacity, and the former soup kitchen and thrift store on the other side for an event venue and expansion of the outdoor beer garden.
Their investments, including renovations to date, are close to $2 million. They’ve gone two-and-a-half years without taking so much as a salary for themselves.
“We’ve invested all our profits into these other properties,” Morgan Crisp said. “We feel like that’s how we can continue the story.”
She was quick to note that patrons who support the brewery and their 32 employees are the ones who deserve the credit, however.
“We couldn’t do it without the people. We are just stewards of what our customers, employees and the community have created,” she said.
The investments couldn’t have come along at a better time for Frog Level.
With Waynesville’s population exploding and the homeless problem plaguing Frog Level finally tamped down, the pump was primed. The missing ingredient, however, was investors willing to repurpose the vacant and run-down buildings — particularly the two flanking Frog Level’s main intersection.
“Those two buildings are the linchpins for Frog Level revitalization,” said James Clayton, the former owner of one of the buildings. After inheriting the property from his grandmother, Clayton had been looking for the right buyer.
“I had a few people call and say they wanted to make it a parking lot. That wasn’t happening,” Clayton said. “My goal was to sell it to someone who was going to fix it up.”
Enter the Crisps and Bonomos.
“The vision they pitched to me was in sync with Frog Level’s potential to become a hip, cool area just off Main Street,” Clayton said.
Frog Level has long been the red-headed step child of Main Street. But a string of new businesses along Depot Street have filled in the gap between Frog Level and downtown — momentum the Frog Level Brewing team wants to build on.
“We see it as an extension of downtown,” said Frank Bonomo. “Downtown is landlocked, but here, we’ve got good buildings, available storefronts, walkability. Frog Level has a lot of textures.”
Bonomo said the soundscape alone is a welcoming backdrop: the hum of Giles Chemical, the occasional train whistle, the tunes of a band playing and the gurgling of Richland Creek.
The two catty corner buildings are over a century old. The largest of the two — the one with a mural of a frog on a builder’s level — was built in 1895 and fills one square block. After years of falling into disrepair, the aging owner, Jack Wadham, finally decided to let it go.
“Jack came in one day and left his phone number asking if we wanted to buy it,” Frank Bonomo said.
After nearly a year of negotiations and due diligence, it closed in early August for $375,000.
Structurally it’s sound, but needs work, likely an entire interior gutting. With five separate storefronts, each space can be customized.
“We’re willing to build to suit or let them come in and take over the space. We are flexible on either one,” Morgan Crisp said. “It’s a great opportunity for smaller, newer companies.”
It also has five upstairs apartments.
The other anchor building — the old Clayton building on Depot Street beside the railroad tracks with brown siding — was purchased in February for $265,000. Built in 1913, it was home to a saw mill, Ford dealership and furniture store during the 20th century.
It’s dripping with historic character, from original travertine floors to a domed ceiling that Bonomo equated with a small-scale version of Grand Central Station.
“The building is gorgeous,” Bonomo said.
The plan is to lease the entire 8,000-square-foot space to a single tenant. Prospects are already in the works.
“We have been in discussions with some options that would be very exciting for the entire town and county,” Bonomo said.
{span}Another group of acquisitions includes three properties along the left side Depot Street for a total of $525,000 — including two old warehouse-style buildings, one housing a cabinet shop and an empty lot. The back of those properties adjoin the alley that runs behind Frog Level Brewing, making them a good tie for the business operations.
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Leap of faithThe story of the Bonomos and Crisps is a serendipitous one, based on one leap of faith after another to get where they are today. That first leap came in March 2020.
The day they were scheduled to close on Frog Level Brewing, the state shuttered all restaurants and bars. Frank Bonomo questioned the wisdom of buying a food and drink establishment amid a pandemic shut down.
“They had to talk me off the cliff,” Frank Bonomo admitted. “We took a leap of faith and said ‘We’re going to do this.’”
At the time, they already had a line of beer called Seven Clans Brewing. Despite statewide distribution, they didn’t have their own brewing facility, but instead hired another brewery to do their production.
“It started as a one-off beer. Then it was another beer, and another beer, then it was distribution,” Morgan Crisp said of Seven Clans.
Buying Frog Level Brewing not only gave them a retail location, but the keys to their own in-house production. They now make two lines of beer at Frog Level: their original Seven Clans line and the Frog Level Brewing line.
The hiatus during the COVID shutdown gave them a chance to do improvements and upgrades without trying to serve customers simultaneously.
“Like everything in life, when you go through hard times, there is usually a silver lining,” Frank Bonomo said.
Aside from investing in equipment, the brewery upgraded its kitchen and created a new indoor seating area by busting through a side wall into the adjacent building.
The most visible expansion, however, has been to the outdoor beer garden, which had become so popular it was often hard to find a seat.
“Our outdoor-themed experience is really the thrust of why we feel like we are successful,” Frank Bonomo said.
So when the Open Door soup kitchen and thrift store moved out of the enormous building next door, the team jumped at the chance to double their Richland Creek frontage.
“We knew we wanted it for the beer garden, and we decided we’d figure out the inside,” Morgan Crisp said.
The expanded beer garden is an oasis from the bustle of town, beautified thanks to a native plant and stream-side restoration project carried out in partnership with Haywood Waterways Association.
As for the inside? The cavernous building is ideal for event space, including a concert venue. The main building needs renovations before it’s ready for prime time, but a smaller room with a capacity of 75 is already being rented for events, including weddings, reunions, baby showers and even a ballroom dance party.
A perk of leasing the building was 30 dedicated parking spaces down a back alley.
That same alley connects to the rear of three properties along Depot Street the couples also acquired for a total of $525,000 — including two old warehouse-style buildings, one housing a cabinet shop and an empty lot.
Meanwhile, Seven Clans has been a success story of its own. Seven Clans opened a new retail location in Asheville last month — the first retail location for the Seven Clans line and the first brewery to ever expand from Haywood to Buncombe.
The company has grown to 32 employees, with turnover being rare even in today’s labor market.
“We have so many talented people. For us personally as owners, we love to see the successes they’ve had working in this environment,” Frank Bonomo said.
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