The Coolidge, Arizona City Council has accepted master site expansion plans for one of the state's largest approved cultivation sites, owned and operated by Item 9 Labs. The vertically integrated cannabis operator will enhance their marijuana operations space by 33x at the conclusion of the expansion.
Currently, the Company has a 20,000 square foot facility on their 50-acre site. "The site will see an expansion on 45 of its acres to include six additional buildings, 12 greenhouses and six greenhouse support buildings (head houses)," the company's team explains. "Seven of the buildings will be for indoor cultivation and one will be for expansion of the Company's lab and support space for finished product. In addition, the Company is currently awaiting state approval for 5-acres of on-site outdoor cultivation. Once complete, the site will be comprised of 650,000+ square feet of cannabis operations."
"Ongoing construction will take place over the next three years in six phases with the initial phase beginning in early 2021," they continue.
"Phase one includes the construction of two 26,000 square foot greenhouses, one head house and two 10,000 square-foot buildings - one for indoor cultivation and one for the lab and packaging. This phase adds 72,000 square feet of operations space. Construction on phase two is anticipated to begin in summer 2021. Funding is already underway for the master site development, which will be led by the Company's new SVP of Construction, Nick Bowden."
"Scaling with a dozen greenhouses is more cost-effective than traditional indoor growing and allows us to produce yields that will service the entire state with Item 9 Labs' premium product, while also creating another 200 jobs," Item 9 Labs Corp. Chief Executive Officer Andrew Bowden said. "In the interim, with the Arizona adult-use market opening, we've brought additional equipment into our facilities that allow us to further supply the growing demand for Item 9 Labs' superior product offerings, while our phased approach starts to take shape."
Brothers, Andrew and Nick Bowden have worked together in construction for the past five years and with a goal to always improve with each build. Key highlights include the first Net Zero Building project in the United States-the completely self-sustaining Dusk Scottsdale building located in Scottsdale, Arizona-as well as designing and permitting a multifamily building to be off-the-power-grid. Nick Bowden has also been a franchisee of a popular tool distribution franchise; this experience will be beneficial to the Company with its previously announced merger with OCG Inc. (ONE Cannabis Group) and its dispensary franchise Unity Rd.
Nick Bowden added, "There are a lot of similarities in cannabis and commercial construction, but there are also a lot of differences and specialized equipment that's needed. Recognizing this a few years ago, I immersed myself in the industry, learning how to incorporate the efficiencies honed throughout my career to create the best indoor environment for cannabis to thrive. I've been working alongside the Item 9 Labs team for the past few years and am excited to officially join the family."
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Item 9 Labs Corp.
item9labs.com