On Oct. 19, the Ferrysburg City Council voted 6–0 to approve a special land use and site plan for a brewery at 17697 174th Avenue. The space is in the shopping center anchored by Leppinks. The project is No Wake Brewery, and this is the second time the city has approved it. The first approval came in June 2025, but that permit expired this past summer before construction started.
The second vote settled where the brewery can go and how the site is laid out. The open items now are mostly financing and a state liquor license.
Two approvals for the same plan
The project came back almost unchanged. MLive reported that owner and brewer Jack Thornsen told the Planning Commission the site plans matched the layout the city had already approved. The updates were minor: labeled equipment and new drawings from a new electrical and mechanical engineer.
Here's the 2026 sequence:
- Oct. 1: The Ferrysburg Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend approval of the special land use and site plan.
- Oct. 19: City Council approved the special land use for a brewery on parcel 70-03-09-300-059, according to the city's council vote summary. The meeting minutes record a 6–0 vote.
- Now: Financing and liquor licensing.
Citizen Portal's write-up of the meeting describes the approved use as a brewery with an internal restaurant. That matters for the rest of this post. The plan is a place to sit down and stay, which is different from a production facility with a counter.
What a land-use vote doesn't cover
The first open item is money. Thornsen told the Planning Commission he is working on financing through commercial lenders and plans to bring in local investors as a backup, according to MLive's Oct. 5 report. In the same story he put the stakes plainly:
"If we can get a loan, we can get it done 100%."
The second open item is liquor licensing, which the Michigan Liquor Control Commission handles. Its license categories work differently from one another. The MLCC says a Brewer or Micro Brewer license is a manufacturing license. A Micro Brewer is capped at 60,000 barrels a year, and selling beer in a tasting room requires a separate On-Premises Tasting Room Permit. The commission's license and permit overview describes a Brewpub license as one that lets a Class C, Tavern, A-Hotel or B-Hotel licensee brew, sell and serve its own beer. It is not a quota license, and a new, previously unissued license needs local approval.
No Wake hasn't publicly said which path it plans to take. Depending on which license it pursues, that step could bring the project back before the city.
So the land-use question is settled, and there's no opening date. Over the winter, the useful news to watch for is a financing announcement or a liquor license filing.
The "third space" argument
The case for the brewery came up at the planning meeting. MLive reported that Planning Commissioner Jordin Weber cited community interest in a social gathering place:
"I think the community would really support this. From the feedback that I've gotten, they're excited about this. They want this to happen, so we're rooting for you."
Thornsen put it in one line, also in MLive's coverage: "Ferrysburg needs a third space like that, and I'm really excited to provide that. It's just not easy."
"Third space" is the planners' term for a place that isn't home or work, where people end up spending an evening. Ferrysburg already has places to eat. What the brewery adds is a sit-down room with its own beer, inside the shopping center where people already buy groceries. Until it opens, Ferrysburg's gathering spots are in two small clusters. Each one fills a different part of the day.
Where Ferrysburg meets up this winter
| Place | Address | What it offers |
|---|---|---|
| Greek Tony's Pizza & Sub Shop | 17621 174th Ave. | Pizza, subs and gyros, with dine-in and online ordering |
| Pine Street Cafe | 401 Pine St. | Breakfast, lunch and dinner, with reservations and online ordering |
| CC's Market | 201 Pine St. | Scratch-made deli, organic café drinks, homemade ice cream, and seating with puzzles and games |
| A La Mode Ice Cream | 307 Oak St. | Ice cream and snacks |
The 174th Avenue plaza. Greek Tony's describes itself as the Ferrysburg location in front of Leppinks, which puts it in the same shopping center as the future brewery. Leppinks Food Center is the plaza's grocery anchor, with a Spring Lake mailing address of 17717 174th. Today the plaza covers groceries and pizza. If No Wake opens at 17697, it would add an evening place to sit a few doors down. That's the biggest change the project would bring.
The Pine and Oak Street cluster. Pine Street Cafe at 401 Pine St. takes reservations and online orders. MLive's 2024 profile of the café described an old-school feel, weekly sweet and savory specials and a revamped menu. Hours may have changed since then, so check the café's site before you go. Two blocks of house numbers down, CC's Market at 201 Pine St. pairs a scratch-made deli and organic café with homemade ice cream. It invites guests to grab a seat and stay awhile with puzzles and games, and calls itself "a gathering place." Its website lists store hours of 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, and closed Sunday. The online menu lists café service separately, so call ahead if you're going for a coffee or lunch. CC's also mentions member-only events and tastings. Around the corner, A La Mode Ice Cream at 307 Oak St. is an ice cream and snack stop. Check before you plan a November cone.
That's the gap the commissioner and the owner described. Ferrysburg has a strong morning-to-afternoon lineup on Pine Street and a pizza counter by the grocery store. It doesn't have a room built for an evening that lasts past dinner.
Pine Street this fall
If Pine Street has been part of your routine, the road itself has been an issue this fall. In an Aug. 7 notice to nearby property owners, City Manager Craig Bessinger said the city had awarded the Pine Street repaving contract to Schmidt Bros Excavating. Work was set to start the week of Aug. 31 and be substantially complete by Nov. 1. The project runs from Third Street to Ridge Avenue. It includes removing the old asphalt, minor storm sewer work, rebuilding the subbase and base, and laying new pavement. The street was closed to through traffic, with driveway access kept open. The city's notice has the details. The city's homepage is where any reopening announcement would go.
Two November walks that start close to home
Until the brewery opens, Ottawa County Parks has two outings on the calendar in November. Each is a short drive from Ferrysburg.
- Saturday, Nov. 7, 1 to 4:30 p.m.: The Lake Michigan Coastal Greenway Thru Hike links Ottawa Sands, North Ottawa Dunes and P.J. Hoffmaster. The fee is $15 for county residents and $20 for nonresidents.
- Saturday, Nov. 14, 10 a.m. to noon: A free, all-ages Fall Colors Hike at Rosy Mound.
Registration for both is on the Ottawa County Parks activity calendar. Ottawa Sands has grown a lot over the last two years. Our Ferrysburg outdoor playbook covers what's there now. If your fall plans also run into the Smith's Bridge repair, our Smith's Bridge update has the timeline.
At Sandi Gentry, we follow plans like the brewery at the Leppinks plaza for the people who already call Ferrysburg home. If you're curious what your place is worth while the 174th Avenue plaza changes, request a free home valuation or browse our Ferrysburg neighborhood guide and let's talk.