Albany commission to decide on Pretoria Fields brewery re-opening

ALBANY – The Albany City Commission is expected to vote soon on a proposal presented by Pretoria Fields Farms LLC owner Tripp Morgan that would allow him to re-open the once popular Pretoria Fields Brewery at 120-122 Pine Street in downtown Albany.

Mayor Bo Dorough recently sent members of the commission a request by Morgan to re-open the brewery, which was shut down Nov. 6, 2024, when the brewery’s financial partner, Southwest Georgia Farm Credit, foreclosed on the property by exercising its option to declare the brewery’s indebtedness immediately due and collectible.

Morgan’s proposal, sent to commissioners by Dorough, asks the city to allow Morgan to re-open the facility and pay a $1,000-a-month lease, renewable at that same cost for 10 years. In return, Morgan said the brewery would brew at least  10 barrels of beer each month, open four days a week for four hours each day and open for eight hours on Saturdays.

Morgan’s proposal calls for the city to make any repairs to the equipment in the brewery exceeding $5,000 that might be necessary due to the year-plus non-use of the more than $1 million in brewing equipment, and he called for the city to be responsible for repairs and maintenance of mechanical systems in the brewery.

Even as he asks the commission to allow him to re-open the brewery, Morgan apparently remains mired in debt accrued during the first incarnation of Pretoria Fields Brewery.

Court action filed by attorney David A. Kendrick of Bainbridge law firm Kendrick Law LLC noted that Morgan and Pretoria Fields principles secured a promissory note on Nov. 4, 2016, in the principal sum of $2,708,585; another promissory note in the original principal amount of $526,000 signed on Oct. 31, 2015; a promissory note in the original principal amount of $576,000 executed on  Oct. 31, 2013, and a promissory note executed on Dec. 28, 2015 in the principal sum of $618,275.

In addition to loans on the properties listed on the “the south side of Pine Street, and extending south the same width, a distance of 210 feet, more or less, to a public alley; the portion of city lot No. 12, on Pine Street, on which is located a two-story brick building numbered 120-122 Pine Street described in a deed from 9-18-31, and the store building on the South side of Pine Street,” Southwest Georgia Farm Credit also noted that “11.75 acres described as Land Lot 190 of the Second Land District of Dougherty County, and secured by promissory note on Dec. 28, 2015, in the principal sum of $618,275 also has been defaulted by the borrower’s failure to pay the indebtedness.”

Kendrick said this week he had no notice of Morgan’s attempts to re-open the brewery, but he said the financial institution would be willing to discuss any options with Albany officials.

“This is the first I’m hearing of (Morgan’s proposal),” the attorney said in a phone conversation. “I’ve had no conversations with my client about the matter. But we’ve always been willing to work with the city of Albany on this matter.

“I know the city is advertising for someone to buy the place, and I’ve heard they have an offer on the table. We’re kind of working on a need-to-know basis, but Southwest Georgia Farm Credit will be a part of any discussion that transpires. We remain in the ‘first position’ to collect funds on that property, so we will be part of the discussion for any transaction that’s brought to the table.”

Albany City Attorney Michael Custer, who served as the attorney of record for Pretoria Fields Brewery before she took her current position, said her previous position precludes her from commenting on any debt that Morgan and Pretoria Fields may have accrued through city funds.

“I am recused from all things Pretoria Fields based on my previous position, so I cannot answer any question regarding Pretoria dealings with the city,” Custer said in an email response to requests by The Albany Herald concerning Morgan and Pretoria Fields’ unpaid debt to the city.

Custer recommended talking with Albany City Manager Terrell Jacobs, who came into his position after the foreclosure filings. Jacobs said he feels the city commission is moving closer to taking action on Morgan’s proposal and a proposal by Socius Beer Collective of Atlanta to become a tenant in the Pine Avenue brewery.

“I think, summing it up, we’re in a position right now where we presented a request for proposals (RFP) seeking a buyer, and we had only one bidder,” Jacobs said. “I believe the procurement protocol calls for the commission to either accept or reject the bid on the table. If the bid is accepted, the brewery will be sold. If it is rejected, I believe — and I would suggest — that the city send out another RFP.”

Jacobs said that he wasn’t inclined to discuss Morgan’s proposal, but he did note that Pretoria Fields still owed the city “a little over $1 million” in loan repayment and back taxes.

Some in the community have complained that Morgan’s operation of a “mini-brewery” at property on Flowing Well Road in northwest Dougherty County is in some way illegal, but Dougherty County Attorney Alex Shalishali provided information through an Open Records request that the entity at Pretoria Fields Farms is operating legally with required alcohol and business licenses.

Former employees of Pretoria Fields, some who served at managerial positions and had access to inside operation information, said they still feel “betrayed” by Morgan and brewery officials. They talk of work for which they were not paid, of drug use by individuals who were in charge of the facility, and of mismanagement while making hand sanitizer during the COVID pandemic that brought in “enough money to pay off all the bills that (Morgan and the brewery) owed.”

“I suggested that the brewery do that, pay off the debt, but (Morgan) refused,” one former employee, who held a management-level position with Pretoria Fields and asked that their name not be used in this article, said. “I was told, ‘That’s not going to happen.’ I couldn’t believe it; there were local, state and national contracts that were worth … well, I won’t guess how much, but it was significant. I sold more than $200,000 worth locally.

“I’ve heard about significant contracts and checks coming in, but that’s only what I heard. I know what I saw, and there was constant work going on during COVID. They had to have come out good on that.”

Dorough mentioned the impact of COVD on the brewery in presenting Morgan’s proposal to city commissioners, but in addition to sales of hand sanitizer, records obtained from Federalpay.org, which supplies Open Record information about Paycheck Protection Program funds distributed during COVID, show that at least nine entities under Morgan’s umbrella received more than $1 million in total funds.

The entities include Pretoria Operations LLC, Pretoria Fields Collective Processors LLC, Pretoria Fields Collective Media, Joe Morgan III, Albany Vascular (another Morgan business), Morgan III Properties of Albany and Morgan III Properties LLC. Several of these entities received more than one PPP loan, and none of them required repayment.

One employee who said they had access to the brewery’s records, said there were “as many as 24 or so” such entities for which Morgan received funding.

It now appears that the City Commission will determine whether to allow the move by Morgan or whether to accept Socius’ proposal to buy the property. No matter what decision is made, there’s still a lot of money that must be accounted for.

And, as one former Pretoria Fields employee noted about the running of the brewery during its initial incarnation, “There was a lot of money in that place. But it got bled dry.”