Historic Groundbreaking Ceremony Held for the Victory Building, Florida’s Only African American Owned Distillery

Submitted by IIona Wolpin

        FORT LAUDERDALE, FL — Victor G. Harvey, the owner of Black-owned Victor George Spirits held a groundbreaking ceremony on June 25^th in Fort Lauderdale. This new building will be named The Victory Building after the historic Victory Theatre, once located on historic Sistrunk Blvd.   The 15,000 square foot facility will house a distillery, restaurant, cigar bar, whiskey lounge, event space and a rooftop bar and lounge located at 1017 Sistrunk Boulevard.   Harvey was joined at the groundbreaking event by Clarence Woods (CRA Manager), Pam Beasley–Pittman (City of Fort Lauderdale Commissioner District 3), Steven Glassman (City of Fort Lauderdale Commissioner District 2), Robert McKinzie (Broward County Commissioner District 8), Dan Lindblade (CEO, Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce) and several members of the community.

     The project is the vision of Harvey through his development company, Northeast 6th Development and will use the forgivable loan provided by the Fort Lauderdale Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) alongside his own investment to help transform a once vibrant area back to a destination where neighborhood residents, out of town visitors and other locals can dine, drink, and tour the distillery, tasting new and unique craft spirits.  The CRA is providing $2,450,000 to help fund the $6,000,000 construction cost.

“We started working on this project in 2019 and after encountering several challenges including the pandemic we were able to stay the course and see it through,” said Victor Harvey. “This building will provide the community and our city along with those that visit the best and most vibrant experiences to enjoy along with creating several jobs, most of which will come from the community, this is one of my proudest moments as I also get to have my two kids involved as my business partners and co-owners of the building.”

    The original Victory Theater was the only one in Broward County Black people could attend up until the end of segregation in 1962. This is what helped pave the way for an entertainment district on historic Sistrunk Blvd.

Brands in the VGS portfolio include gold medal award winning Fort Mose’ 1738 Bourbon, Victor George Vodka, Victor George Caramel Vodka and Fort Mose’ 1738 Rye Whiskey.  Most major retailers carry VGS portfolio across the U.S. such as Total Wine, Kroger, Meijer, Trader Joe’s and more and locally at Primo Liquors, Half Time Liquors, Atlantic Liquors and several more independents.  Victor George Vodka and caramel vodka both retail price is $19.99 for 750ml and $28.99 for 1.75L. Fort Mose’ Bourbon retails for $49.99 and Fort Mose Rye Whiskey retails for $69.99.

For more information about Victor George Vodka, please visit www.victorgeorgevodka.com or follow us on Instagram @vgvodka.

      For more information about Fort Mose’ 1738 Bourbon, please visit www.fortmosewhiskey.com or follow us on Instagram @fortmosewhiskey.