By Sam Spatter
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, December 15, 2007

Construction of the Hofbrauhaus at the SouthSide Works on the South Side might finally be ready to start.

The Soffer Organization and representatives of Hofbrauhaus Pittsburgh will seek the approval of the Pittsburgh Urban Redevelopment Authority at a URA board meeting in January.

Soffer is the developer of the SouthSide Works, while Hofbrauhaus Pittsburgh would operate the German-styled beer and pretzel restaurant that will be built behind the Cheesecake Factory toward the Monongahela River.

If the URA gives its approval, construction could start in May and the facility could open by the first quarter of 2009, said Mark Dellana, Soffer's vice president of development.

"We will begin demolition of the existing foundation on the site for the Hofbrauhaus, and that should take about a month and a half," Dellana said. The property would then be turned over to Hofbrauhaus in May.

The development group has endured a series of setbacks that delayed the project, said Nick Ellison, a principal in Hofbrauhaus Pittsburgh along with Eric Haas.

Soffer officials announced plans for the facility in 2005, and in July 2006, Ellison and Haas said they hoped to have it open by the fall of this year.

Problems began when the federal government started to require companies issuing franchises to fully disclose their resources, similar to what is required when a company issues stock, Ellison said.

"It was difficult to get the State of Bavaria, owner of Hofbrauhaus, to make that disclosure," he said.

Meanwhile, Hofbrauhaus' option on the SouthSide Works site expired, and Ellison said the Soffer Organization began marketing the property before Bavaria finally agreed to provide the required information, he said.

"We then offered 80 investors, through a private offering memorandum, the opportunity to invest in the project. We needed 30 but only 15 agreed," he said.

The project ran into another snag when the Pennsylvania Legislature in July allowed Allegheny County to impose up to 10 percent tax on the sale of alcoholic beverages to help pay for Port Authority operations, he said.

"We cancelled the project, but Huntington Bank's Cincinnati office agreed to provide us with a loan to move the project ahead," Ellison said.

The Hofbrauhaus will have space for about 1,000 customers and create 180 to 200 jobs.

It will be the third Hofbrauhaus in the U.S., Ellison said. The first was opened in 2003 in Newport, Ky., outside Cincinnati. The second opened in 2004 in Las Vegas.

Sam Spatter can be reached at sspatter@tribweb.com or 412-320-7843.