SHADE, Ohio — Barrel Ridge Farm has been a key part of the Athens restaurant Jackie O’s business for many years. But, amid changes in his life, his business, and the business environment more generally, owner Art Oestrike is selling the property.
“I am one human who’s pulled in lots of directions all the time,” Oestrike said.
Barrel Ridge Farm has been an important piece of sustainability at Jackie O’s, with the farm producing produce served at Jackie O’s locations.
“Jackie O’s is committed to producing beer and food that celebrates the vast agricultural resources available in Southeast Ohio. That’s why we have been growing our own since 2010 and learning a lot along the way,” the Jackie O’s farm webpage states.
The farm has also been an important resource for community partners. According to the Jackie O’s website, the farm is home to the Athens County Area Beekeeping Association and, in 2023 alone, produced over 1,500 pounds of produce that was donated to Community Food Initiatives and distributed to people who needed it.
Oestrike hopes to find a buyer who will continue working with Jackie O’s in some capacity. But, regardless, the business will continue its commitment to locally grown food, he said.
“Assuming the farm is not there, and we don’t have another place to do that ourselves, there are many wonderful humans growing wonderful products … and we would be supporting them,” Oestrike said.
As for community partnerships, Oestrike said, “I value those partnerships and hope to see them continue, but that’s going to come down to who ends up purchasing this property.”
Asked about the farm’s employees, Oestrike said in a text message, “I really believe that the current team we have at the farm is one of the best we’ve ever had!” He declined to address a question about the employees’ future on the farm.
The property listing, via Athens Real Estate Company, says that the owner “is willing to consider a creative partnership with qualified person (think farm-to-table restaurant and cabin rental business!) that will usher this amazing property into its next iteration.”
Russell Chamberlain, the listing agent for the property, told the Independent, “They would need to bring money — those kinds of resources to the table — as well as a skill set that would allow them to really expand on what [Oestrike’s] already started there.”
The property, listed at $895,000, includes the farm and a home, which Jackie O’s has offered as a short-term rental.
Chamberlain told the Independent he had received two serious inquiries about the property as of Monday.
Oestrike purchased the property in 2011 for $160,000, according to Athens County Auditor records. At the time, the property was a horse ranch. In the intervening years, the property has “transformed,” Oestrike said.
According to the listing, the property now “features everything necessary for a full-blown farming operation, with 5 large greenhouses and high tunnels, 900 sf foot equipment/ storage barn, vegetable washing/sorting/packing room, row crop areas, water & irrigation systems, raised beds and more.”
“There’s been great moments,” Oestrike told the Independent. “We’ve had a number of stellar events. We’ve had a number of wonderful community partners that continue to grow the programming and things that are happening out there. That’s been wonderful. It’s been amazing to watch a piece of property transform as it has over these 15 years.”
However, while the farm has transformed in that period, so has Oestrike’s life, and so has the business environment for the Athens restaurant and bar.
“There was a time that we were open from 11 a.m. ‘til midnight or 2 a.m. seven days a week, 362 days a year. I don’t think that’s ever going to happen again based on current work,” Oestrike said. “If I go back 15 years to when the farm was acquired, the restaurant industry in Athens, Ohio, was much more robust.”
Oestrike partially attributed the decline to fewer Ohio University faculty and staff working in person throughout the week.
“It has a lot to do with the hours of operation versus the people who are at work and frequent us,” he said. “The rent hasn’t changed. Utilities haven’t really changed. But the amount of business has drastically changed over these past 15 years. So you know, as things change in society, you got to change with it.”
Regardless, Oestrike says he hopes to find a buyer for the farm who will continue working with the restaurant business, and he is “excited to see where it goes in the future.”
Jackie O’s operates three locations: its Public House Restaurant and Uptown Brew Pub on Union Street, the Jackie O’s Taproom and Brewery on Stimpson Avenue and Jackie O’s On Fourth in Columbus.
Note: This story has been updated to include an additional comment from Oestrike.
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