Allentown Brewery Vows To Keep Doors Open

Tucked into a brick building near the intersection of Edward and Franklin streets, Spotted Octopus Brewing has built a reputation as a friendly, welcoming brewery where patrons can get a locally made beer or cocktail (with NYS-made spirits). 

The owners have built a strong community of regulars who have celebrated birthdays, holidays, and even April’s eclipse together. It’s the kind of bar that people feel comfortable in from the start. 

And due to a problem with the building’s landlord, the friendly bar faced an uncertain future. 

In a statement released Thursday night on Instagram, the owners vow to keep the lights on. 

“Spotted Octopus Brewing Company is here to stay. Although the building we lease is facing foreclosure, we want to assure you that we are in good standing and are excited about what lies ahead,” say the owners, Ken Shaw, Dom Nicotera, and Barb Priore. 

Their statement comes a week after an article, published by Business First, suggested the brewery might be in some kind of location limbo. 

The building is owned by RPB Holdings of Buffalo LLC, which was served a commercial foreclosure notice last month. Spotted Octopus has been in the building at 41 Edward Street for two years. 

The problem is that RPB Holding hasn’t paid rent on the building for just about that whole time, with the foreclosure notice referencing a failure to repay a $768,000 short-term loan that was initially due nearly a year ago, on January 6, 2024. The company also failed to pay the accrued interest and late fees due on the loan. 

There’s no problem with the Spotted Octopus directly, Nicotera told Business First. “We’re still paying our rent and paying all our bills and still have a good business. Our goal is to stay here. We’re in good standing.” He said he hoped if the building was sold, the new owner would allow the brewery to remain in the location. 

RPB Holdings has failed to meet most deadlines on the loan, but it did make three payments, one each in May, June, and July, in the same $3,350 rent paid by Spotted Octopus. The company now owes a total of $768,000, the amount of the loan, in addition to nearly $31,000 in late fees, interest, attorney fees, court costs, and other building maintenance and utility fees.