WILMINGTON — After going through significant efforts to acquire a piece of property owned by the City of Wilmington to no avail, it appears TRU Colors has finally selected a piece of land to house its brewery.
Located at 715 Greenfield Street, plans have been submitted to the City of Wilmington’s Technical Review Committee (TRC) for the TRU Colors Brewery. But these plans are not just for a brewery, it appears the company is also planning a restaurant complete with an outdoor dining area, a daycare, gym, community meetings rooms, a clinic, and officers.
TRU Colors has faced several challenges since its inception; last year founder George Taylor found a location off Gordon Road where he planned on operating the brewery — but plans never came to fruition. In fact, Taylor said in that location, the company would not have any sort of tasting room or restaurant and it would strictly be a brewing facility.
After plans with that property fell through, Taylor started looking at the former Wave Transit bus depot on Castle Street, a piece of property currently in a state of decay. Taylor was so interested in acquiring the facility he created a nonprofit group, TRU Impact, to purchase the property directly from the city (this is because, in the state, local governments can not outright sell property to a for-profit entity it has to go through a bidding process).
However, despite initial excitement and favor from the City of Wilmington leaders, the city decided to do a call for proposals for the property and invited others to submit plans.
Only one group did submit a plan for the property — it was not TRU Colors — instead, it was for a mixed-use development to include affordable housing by Habitat for Humanity as well as a few others.
TRU Colors has been described by Taylor as a unique concept that incorporates active gang members working together to help stop gun violence.
According to the company website, “We’re a business employing active, rival gang members coming together to stop gun violence. Our business is to brew great beer but our mission is to resolve conflicts through honest conversations and understanding. We’re tired of saying “RIP” so we’re committed to each other and our community to stop gun violence.”
