LEROY, N.Y. — A sweet smell soon will return to the former Jell-O factory in LeRoy as Oatka Distillers works to transform the space into a craft distillery.
The $1.5 million project comes from Earl Funderburk, who bought the 120,000-square-foot factory complex in 2005 through his Funderburk Enterprises LLC. While a plan to develop a records storage facility in 2009 fell through, Funderburk has been leasing space to several tenants.
Plans now call for using the 20,000-square-foot office space as a visitor center, with a tasting room and retail space for merchandise, as well as events in the long-term. The warehouse space, with 50,000 square feet on each of the first and second floors, will be used for production on the ground level and bourbon barrel maturation upstairs.
“There’s lots of room to grow,” Funderburk said. “This isn’t something I expect to retire from. I plan to do this for the rest of my life – that’s my goal – to fill that second floor and leave a legacy to my kids or someone else.”
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