NILES — After years of honing his home brewing craft, a lifelong Niles resident is ready to turn his passion into a business.

On Monday night, Brandon Townsley went before members of the Niles City Council to ask for a liquor license approval for the soon-to-be Niles Brewing Company. City leaders unanimously approved the license and now Townsely is moving forward with his plans.

“One of the things we are going to promote is the community and downtown Niles,” Townsley said to council members. “It will be a very community-friendly atmosphere. The goal is for everyone to feel welcome when they come inside.”

Townsley is a lifelong Niles resident who works at a local financial institution and enjoys brewing craft beer. For the past three years, he said he has been working to turn his dream of owning and operating his own brewery into a reality.

The Niles Brewing Company will operate from the main floor of the former Niles Elks Lodge, 104 N. Third St. Townsley will be leasing the space from business owners Don and Melanie Kennedy, who operate the Grand LV events venue out of the basement of the building.

Townsley hopes to have the brewery open for business sometime in the spring of 2019. His vision for Niles Brewing Company is a full-service bar, where people can find a rotating selection of craft beers, with a flagship beer potentially being his caramel cream ale. Townsley also hopes to offer customers craft sodas, guest taps, cider, mixed drinks and made from scratch lemonade.

“It’s not just beer or alcohol,” Townsley said. “The other thought behind that is to be able to cater to everyone and that way large groups can come here and there’s something for everyone.”

The interior of the brewery will be “rustic” and include a roughly 1,300-square foot tap with a chalkboard menu stationed behind the bar. Townsley hopes to incorporate at least one element of the building’s history as the Niles Elks Lodge into the design: an aged Tyler refrigerator that he said he hopes to polish and restore to its former glory.

Outside, Townsley hopes to transform the front lawn area that faces Third Street into a beer garden. At this time, Townsley said he plans to hire between six to 10 people to help operate the business when it opens.

Townsley has been brewing beer for about six years. About two years ago, he started bringing his beer to be judged at the Big Brothers and Big Sisters Bottle Caps and Corks competition in Elkhart. Last year, his caramel cream ale earned a second-place award for most popular and Townsley started gaining confidence that others would enjoy his beer, he said.

Seeing the support from Monday night’s council meeting also encouraged Townsley that a brewery is something that Niles residents want to see.

“It’s very exciting,” Townsley said. “It seems that there is a lot of positivity with the announcement, so it is a little bit humbling.”