The Anheuser Busch malting plant along I-94 has been closed since April. A buyer is being sought to purchase both the mothballed plant and the 100-acre field to its south. (Photo/Nancy Hanson.)

Nancy Edmonds Hanson 

More than six months after Anheuser-Busch announced the closure of its malting plant in Moorhead, the corporation continues to seek a buyer for its sidelined malting plant on the south side of the city.
So far, though, no serious buyer has emerged, despite the property offering some of the highest visibility in the metropolitan area. It is listed with CBRE, a commercial real estate firm in Fargo. The property includes six buildings on a total of 150 acres, including nearly 50 zoned for commercial and industrial uses. Direct access to the interstate highway is complemented by a railroad spur adjacent to its western edge.
“It has drawn a lot of interest,” says Derrick LaPoint, Moorhead’s economic development consultant. “It’s a beautiful location. This kind of visibility in a high-traffic area is virtually unique. It just doesn’t open up very often.
“The railroad spur speaks to the level of interest in the plant as well. Millions of dollars worth of infrastructure is already in place. Ideally, they’ll find an industrial user to repurpose the facility who’s willing to subdivide the land off I-94 and north of the plant.”
The Anheuser-Busch property includes not only the malting plant itself but substantial acreage flanking it to the north and south. The 26 acres that lie between its structures and I-94 include 20 acres zoned for bulk industrial usage and six zones commercial. To the north, another 20 acres are currently earmarked for light industrial usage. That land has never been developed, primarily due to environmental restrictions.
The property includes six structures. Most visible is the grain elevator, with a capacity of nearly 5 million bushels. The other buildings include the load-out and scale area serving rail cars and semis; the 220-foot-tall head house; the malting facility itself, housing equipment where the barley was malted; the 6,300 sq. ft. office building; and a 6,000 sq. ft. shop – all built in 1978. The cold-storage warehouse was added in 1994.
“They have been looking for a potential grain elevator business, LaPoint says. That business could operate separately, with the buyer subdividing the vacant land, which is currently cultivated.
The plant’s announced arrival 50 years ago stirred controversy in Moorhead. Residents complained to the City Council about its impact on water, wastewater and electricity utilities. A month after its announcement, the Minnesota Environmental Quality Council ruled that the city’s positive conclusions about its effects was inadequate. A citizen group launched a petition drive to force development of an environmental impact statement. After the Environmental Quality Council decided not to require the impact statement, students at Concordia College and Moorhead State University filed a lawsuit to try to force the issue. It was ultimately withdrawn after successful negotiations between the city and Anheuser-Busch.
Construction began in mid-1976. The $30 million plant was completed and began operation in late 1978. The controversy was credited with the defeat of then-Mayor Dwaine Hoberg as he ran – unsuccessfully – for a fourth term.
Until its departure early this year, Anheuser-Busch was a major customer of city services. According to city engineer Bob Zimmerman, its billing for wastewater services represented 10% of wastewater revenue, an average of $1.2 million per year. Its impact on Moorhead Public Service, however, is going to be a wash, according to director Travis Schmidt. While losing the malting plant’s business cuts revenue, it also requires the city to purchase less power from a supplier.
While nothing has been announced so far about the future of the prime property, LaPoint predicts major developments as conversations continue. “This is a beautiful opportunity for development,” he observes. “Right now, there’s pretty much nothing else here that compares with it.”