New York Prison to be Converted into a $ 150 Million Cannabis Campus |

The site of a former state prison in New York’s Hudson Valley is being converted into a $ 150 million cannabis campus by Green Thumb Industries, one of the nation’s largest producers of legal marijuana. The proposed facility in the former prison in Warwick, New York, will produce tens of thousands of pounds of cannabis for the state’s upcoming recreational marijuana economy, which was legalized by lawmakers earlier this year.

Until 10 years ago, the 38-acre property Green Thumb Industries (GTI) bought was part of the Mid-Orange Correctional Facility, which housed inmates jailed for marijuana offenses and other crimes. The facility dates back to 1914 when it opened as a drug and alcohol treatment center called New York City Farm.

In the 1930s, the facility was converted into the New York State Training School for Boys to accommodate wayward urban youth. In the 1970s, the site was converted into a prison for adult inmates before it was closed in 2011 by Andrew Cuomo, then governor of New York.

At the groundbreaking ceremony for the new cannabis production facility at the beginning of the month, GTI President Ben Kovler pointed out the importance of the new use for the location.

“The irony of building a cannabis facility near the site of a former federal prison has not escaped us,” said Kovler. “Change is really in the air; Change is taking place in the country; change is taking place here. And we can go from a place where people used to be locked up for marijuana [to one] where we employ people and open up opportunities, create wealth and create a positive economic environment. “

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New York politicians see “a brave new world” in cannabis

After the prison closed in 2011, local leaders began looking for ways to replace the 400 jobs the facility had offered the community. Warwick Town Supervisor Michael Sweeton started a not-for-profit development company and convinced the state to sell 150 acres of the property to the new company for $ 4 million, which was paid for with a loan from a local businessman.

In 2018, the development company began sales of land, including a sale of approximately 8 acres for $ 526,000 to Citiva, a subsidiary of New York-based cannabis company iAnthus. Since then, a cannabis testing lab and a manufacturer of CBD products have also opened facilities on the property.

GTI has invested $ 2.8 million on its 38-acre property in a deal that includes multi-million dollar tax incentives for the company. GTI plans to develop the property in three stages and to create 100 union jobs in the construction process. The first phase of construction will include a $ 60 million add-on facility covering 200,000 square feet. Cannabis product manufacturing operations are also planned for the site, leading to an estimated $ 150 million facility. When completed, GTI’s cannabis campus will employ approximately 150 people with salaries between $ 50,000 and $ 100,000.

“Our fertile soil, our trained workforce and proximity to New York City make us Silicon Valley for the cannabis industry,” said Senator Michael Martucci at the groundbreaking ceremony on September 9th.

Mayor Sweeton said the deal with GTI, which includes property and sales tax breaks, would be a boon to the local economy.

“I think it’s just a home run for us,” said Sweeton. “We’re a farm community economy – we have a lot of farm tourism, a lot of active farms, but we don’t really get much of the corporate world. It’s a brave new world. “