Hard to tell with Cedar Rapids building officials, but it would be fairly difficult to install a brewery into the Black Sheep space while keeping the restaurant open. Also, keep in mint that the supporting beams and columns of that building are classified as heavy timber construction, which requires A LOT of extra care when it is to house an assembly space (which it currently does) and then to build a separated utility space next to it would require a huge expense.
To this day, I'm not certain how Iowa Brewing got away with having a production/storage area that is completely exposed (except for a 42" high wall) to the rather large 'tasting area' assembly space. In my reading that would require a 2 hour separation with fire dampers even WITH the sprinkler system (as I have been asked by building officials in other jurisdictions to make sure this separation is in place in 'break areas' next to office spaces where the occupancy load is calculated as 50 or more).
