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Portland’s craft beer scene is continuing to brew.

A renovation is now fully under way in North Portland, near the Mississippi Avenue corridor, to create a space for John Harris’ new brewpub. Harris, formerly the head brewer for Full Sail Brewing Co., left last year to find a place to open Ecliptic Brewing. He chose a 14,000-square-foot warehouse at 825 N. Cook St.

“It’s the plane that all planets travel around the sun,” Harris said of the Ecliptic name. “Our journey around the sun every year ties back to seasonality, and the name and what we’re trying to do here.”

Harris’ concept centers on rotating beers and foods, and pairing the two together. Approximately 3,000 square feet of the building will hold the brewery and 3,000 more will hold a restaurant and kitchen. The remaining 8,000 square feet will provide room for growth.

First, Ecliptic in October is set to join an increasingly competitive marketplace. The number of breweries in Portland has increased from 44 in December 2011 to 51 today (69 in the greater metropolitan area) – more than any other city in the world.

“At this point if you’re going to make it, you better make a good beer,” Harris said, “and an interesting beer.”

Harris and Josh Bean, a broker at Doug Bean & Associates, needed nearly a year to find a building that met a laundry list of requirements. Harris needed a large building with clearances of at least 15 feet, zoning that could accommodate a restaurant and brewery operation, space for outdoor seating and parking, and the ability to be improved without seismic upgrades being triggered.

“And (we) also wanted it to be in a quasi-hip, cool area,” Bean said. “We were open to any quadrant in the city, but the close-in east side was preferable.”

The warehouse on North Cook Street, built in 1976, met all the criteria. Julia Wood of Julia Wood Architect is the project’s designer; Oregon Restaurant Equipment is the general contractor. Wood said the design will rely heavily on lighting to play up the ecliptic theme. An analemma-shaped chandelier will be the centerpiece.

The lower end of Mississippi Avenue isn’t quite as active as the area several blocks north, but Bean said breweries can be catalytic. He cited Hopworks Urban Brewery on Southeast Powell Boulevard and Base Camp Brewing Co. on Southeast Oak Street as companies that renovated old industrial buildings and injected new life into neighborhoods.

Harris’ experience as a brewmaster is raising the property’s profile. The entire Ecliptic operation is being funded by private investors.

“This brewery has pedigree,” Bean said. “This is going to be the most anticipated, talked-about brewery in town.”

Harris is looking forward to getting creative with the brewing – something he wasn’t always free to do in a production-focused operation. The brewery will start by producing roughly 1,500 barrels a year; its first beer will likely be a winter brew to coincide with the season.

But with around 80 recognized beer styles, Harris said the sky will be the limit for Ecliptic – though he doubts he’ll brew a smoke beer.

“I don’t like them,” he said. “But if the customer asks for it, well, then let’s do it. The idea is to be one with the customer, get feedback for what they like, and make it a really interactive experience.”