J. Rieger & Co. traces its roots to the late 1880s, when Jacob Rieger established his distillery on Kansas City’s famed “Wettest Block in the World.” Across town, Ferdinand Heim operated the Heim Brewery Company in the industrial East Bottoms. Both businesses closed with the onset of Prohibition in 1920, leaving behind two distinct pieces of Kansas City history.
Nearly 90 years later, Jacob Rieger’s great-great-great-grandson revived the family distillery within the historic Heim Brewery. The project brings together the architectural character of the former brewery with the history and identity of J. Rieger & Co., adapting the building to house a working distillery, event spaces, and opportunities for visitors to learn about the company and its connection to Kansas City.
The restoration and adaptive reuse of the Heim Brewery helped establish a new chapter for the historic building and contributed to renewed investment in the East Bottoms. The project received the AIA Kansas City Preservationist of the Year Award and recognition from the Missouri Alliance for Historic Preservation.
