Williamsburg will soon be home to a new craft distillery that could start churning out alcohol by the end of the year.
Hampton Roads is already on the map when it comes to wine. Now a Virginia family hopes to start a similar movement with the hard stuff.
On Thursday, Williamsburg City Council approved the sale of the former Lord Paget Motel to a man with plans to build and operate a craft distillery on the site.
Rick Wasmund, the owner of Copper Fox Distillery in Sperryville, not only plans to build a new factory on the site, he plans to live there with his wife and young daughter.
Wasmund tells NewsChannel 3 he still needs to get a special use permit. Once that’s done, he will start rebuilding the inside of the old motel to serve as a distillery and he plans to have Hampton Roads-made alcohol up for sale by the end of the year.
The city bought the property at auction two-and-a-half years ago for almost $700,000.
Wasmund agreed to buy it for $600,000.
He says the future plant could make 80,000 cases of single-malt whiskey, bourbon, spiced rum and gin.
