Cannabis grower and retailer GTI — Green Thumb Industries — is in the process of buying the Hampden Papers complex at 100 Water St., according to the city.
The company is outgrowing its location at 28 Appleton St., said Aaron Vega, director of Holyoke’s Office of Planning and Economic Development. The company, which also does business in Holyoke under the brand name Rise, has a state license to grow cannabis in as much as 100,000 square feet, but only uses 30,000 square feet of space now at its Appleton Street facility.
Vega said the company has an application into the city to amend its special permit for the project. The company wants to expand its growing and processing area and add an employee cafeteria and on-site parking. The company, Vega said, plans to hire 100 to 130 people in addition to the 110 employees it has now. Construction could start in the summer.
The planned purchase came out this week when Kennedy Funding announced a $1.3 million bridge loan to Hampden Papers Inc. to finish winding down operations and maintain the 6-acre property.
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