NILES — Walking into the former Hob Nob building in downtown Niles now, visitors are met with a dated façade, complete with black and white checkered tile on the walls and an unused, covered salad bar sitting in its corner.

However, the building’s new owner, Brandon Townsley, 32, of Niles, has visions of a modern brewery featuring industrial furniture, phone charging stations and community style seating and standing areas.

“It’s going to look really different once we start remodeling,” Townsley said. “We are going to expose the brick, keep the wood archway, take all the wallpaper down, replace the backsplash. … It’s been in my head for so long, I’m excited to see it come out.”

The building, 206 E. Main St., Niles, will be the new home of Niles Brewing Company. The sale on the former Hob Nob building closed Wednesday. Now with a place to call home, brewery owner, Townsley, along with his wife Alyssa, has set his sights on opening by the end of the year.

For Townsley, the closure on the building was a sigh of relief after a year’s worth of planning, location changes and uncertainty as to when he would be opening his brewery.

Last summer, Townsley announced he would be opening Niles Brewing Company in spring 2019 on the main floor of the former Niles Elks Lodge, 104 N. Third St. However, meeting fire suppression guidelines at the Third Street location and working through a government shutdown led to delays. During this time, the opportunity arose to buy the former Hob Nob building on Main Street. Once it was determined that the building would be a good fit for his brewery — which he has dreamed of owning since he started home brewing nine years ago — he decided to take the leap and buy the building.

In addition to finding a building during this process, Townsley said he made sure not to waste time waiting for things to come together. Instead, he has spent the last year reading, studying, trying out new recipes and visiting conferences and other breweries to learn more about the trade.

“The process has taken me longer than I anticipated, but now I know to expect things to take twice as long and cost twice as much,” he said. “The upside is my resume has increased during this whole process — from brewer to general contracting to demolition guy.”

Once opened, Niles Brewing Company plans to offer 16 rotating taps — 10 to 12 of which will feature Niles Brewing Company beers. The remaining taps will feature one to two ciders and one to three guest taps to showcase other breweries. The brewery will not serve food, but Townsley will allow patrons to bring in food from other restaurants. Additionally, it will have a full-service bar.

Of the Niles Brewing Company original beers, Townsley said he likes to take an experimental edge and try new things. In addition to a variety of trendy IPAs, he plans to offer some out-of-the-box brews, such as his cream soda-inspired caramel cream ale.

“I’m going to have a lot of beer that won’t taste like beer because it will be very different,” Townsley said. “I want to differentiate myself. Being a little crazy will do me good by getting me noticed by everyone, putting me on the map, hopefully.”

The next step to making Niles Brewing Company a reality is starting the demolition process, which Townsley expects to take two to three months. Eventually, he plans to become an ingrained member of the community and to offer beer collaborations with local businesses such as Veni’s, Iron Shoe Distillery and Atomic Bean Coffee.

Until that time comes, Townsley said he is grateful for the Niles community for expressing interest in Niles Brewing Company and for sticking with his dream throughout the changes the last year has brought.

“We are really excited, and I’m doing my best to not let everyone down,” Townsley said. “I love this town, and I want [the brewery] to be just one more thing to push Niles as a destination area.”