Peppertree Square will continue with a vacant building for longer than planned as one of the potential tenants, Campsite Brewing Company, will go to Covina.

In June of 2018, the news of two new major businesses in Peppertree Square excited Claremont residents with the potential of a brew pub and a gym moving into two empty spaces in the plaza. While the lease for the gym, Fitness 19, has been signed and construction will begin soon, the brew pub has relocated their business to another town.

Campsite Brewing Company was to be a family-friendly, pet-friendly restaurant and craft-brewery in the stand-alone building that is currently vacant at Peppertree.

Public reception was generally positive, with residents hoping to see the pub tie the plaza together and give locals more of a reason to travel in that direction. However, hopes were dashed with the news that Campsite was no longer going to occupying that space.

“We just couldn’t come to an agreement with the landlord at Peppertree,” said owner Christian Hartenstein. “We were disappointed because we really wanted to make Claremont work, but Claremont is kind of small and there were not a whole lot of options for us.”

Property Manager Nick Quackenbos cites the extensive amount of time with negotiating the lease as the reason the deal fell through. He explained how Dollar Tree, another business in the center, was concerned about parking for the brewery interfering with the parking for its customers.

“It took forever to work out a deal with Dollar Tree, and when it was finally done, it came with conditions that were unacceptable to the tenant,” he said. “And it took forever to get those to work out for the tenant, so they decided to look elsewhere.”

The original entrance for the stand alone building where Campsite was to go faces the direction of Dollar Tree, meaning they would share many of the same parking spaces.

As a part of its lease, Dollar Tree is allowed to weigh in on the planning of other incoming businesses, and so the business requested that the entrance be moved to the other side of the building, to divert parking for the brewery to the another point in the parking lot.

The owners of Campsite were working out a deal with them, but it simply took far too long, so they searched for another property.

Mr. Quackenbos said they are currently in negotiations with another possible client for the remaining empty spaces, and despite the setback, has high hope for the future of Peppertree.

“When Fitness 19 comes, the place will be very much alive,” he said. “It will put the place at 85 percent occupied.” 

Despite the setbacks with the Claremont location, the owners of Campsite Brewing Company say they are excited to open in Covina in late 2020 or early 2021.

—Eleanor Corbin