LAWRENCE, MI (WKZO AM/FM) -What’s being called the largest completely artificial light marijuana grow in Michigan is nearing completion on its first phase of construction.
305 Farms is located in the Van Buren County village of Lawrence. The 40-acre site is currently municipally approved to stack forty Class-C cultivation licenses and two cannabis processing licenses on a single piece of real-estate.
305 Farms CEO Matthew Peon says when all three phases are completed, they will have more than 350,000 square feet of indoor cultivation and support operations on the Lawrence campus, costing nearly $110 million. “The opening of our first building, which serves as the heart of the campus, is a major step. We’re beyond excited. This initial operation will employ the first fifty personnel in Lawrence.”
The first phase of the construction comprises 44,000 square feet of cultivation rooms and an adjacent 16,000 square foot operations center, with dedicated space for trimming, processing, commercial kitchens, and a warehouse. Phases 2 and 3, will be completed later in 2022 and 2023 respectively, add two additional buildings with a combined footprint over 200,000 square feet. The projection is to produce between fifty and eighty thousand pounds of cannabis flower a year.
Company officials says unique features of 305 Farms include the use of LEDs in all areas of the building, not just the grow rooms, a water treatment system that recycles 95% of all wastewater and its own power plant of natural gas generators capable of supplying almost half of the campus’s electricity needs.
Over the next 36 months, they plan to hire at least 200 full-time people, ranging from management positions, security department, cultivation, processing, and trimming positions. Entry level employees will earn a campus minimum wage of $20 per hour.
305 Farms has paid the Village of Lawrence $141,000 in reservation and licensing fees to-date. When all phases of construction are completed, that number will grow to over $200,000 per year.
The State of Michigan will receive an additional $2 million in annual licensing fees for the campus. The company’s recreational products are subject to a 10% state excise tax, and the company is projecting annual remittances in the eight figures.
