Ceres is closing – Aarhus is in mourning
On 7 January 2008, the people of Aarhus received some long-feared news. Ceres is closing its brewery in the ‘City of Smiles’.
After more than 150 years of brewing beer on the banks of the river, production is now moving to Royal Unibrew’s other breweries on Funen and Zealand.
The brewery’s history is almost synonymous with the industrialisation of Aarhus. In 1856, a consortium opened the city’s seventh brewery on a large plot of land just outside the city, perfectly situated next to the river, which was to supply the brewery with the necessary water. However, its time as an independent brewery lasted no longer than until 1898, when the brewery was sold to Østjyske Bryggerier A/S, and development continued in this vein until Royal Unibrew was established in 2000.
Due to the competitive landscape, the brewery group was faced with the prospect of closing one of its three remaining breweries, and the site in Aarhus is expected to be the most profitable of the three.
From a commercial point of view, it makes sense to close Ceres. The site covers 6.5 hectares, is perfectly situated next to the stream, and is just a few hundred metres from the heart of the city. Ceres was, after all, one of the very last industrial enterprises within the Ringgaden, indeed even within the Ringvejen.
Nevertheless, it is with a heavy heart that Aarhus bids farewell to its brewery. A Ceres TOP will never taste quite as good once the boilers and bottling plant on Silkeborgvej are gone.
The site has been valued by estate agents at between 700 and 900 million, corresponding to a price per square metre of 12,000–14,000 kr. However, the brewery does not expect a sale to be finalised before 2010–2011.
The current local plan (and the municipal plan) specifies a maximum building coverage ratio of 110 per cent, which allows for almost 80,000 square metres of floor area, equivalent to more than 10 per cent of the expected area of the harbour sites close to the city centre.
However, the future owners of the site are far from having a free hand.
Firstly, the local plan clearly stipulates that the area must be used for brewing. Secondly, several buildings, including a number of the production facilities facing Silkeborgvej, are designated as worthy of preservation according to the municipal atlas.
It must be taken for granted that the town will lose its historic brewery and that the town centre will lose one of its last remaining industrial enterprises. However, the closure also presents an opportunity for regeneration in the area. Even today, there is a beautiful park behind the wire-mesh fence, and there is great potential to create exciting homes and offices in the historic buildings. It may even be possible to preserve a small brewery in one of the original brewhouses.
In addition to the Ceres site, two further plots are under consideration as part of the same process, namely the Technical College’s two plots on Ceres Alle and Daugbjergvej. One of these plots currently houses the Hairdressing College, whilst the other is undeveloped.
The sites were already up for sale when the news about Ceres emerged, but according to a land registry entry, the local authority must approve the sale of the sites, and it is now expected that a comprehensive plan for the area will be drawn up.
Incidentally, there is another adjacent undeveloped plot in the area, but this is already subject to a local plan in . It is currently unclear whether it will be included in a master plan.
In total, the plots make up a considerable part of the area bounded by Åen, Silkeborgvej and Ringgaden, a former industrial area. The area has already been partially redeveloped with the Technical College, Åparken and the buildings on the former Frisko site. With these developments, only Dansk Trælast and Silvan will stand out as relatively sparsely built-up plots.