Jushi Holdings Inc., a Florida-based cannabis and hemp operator, said it intends to invest about $50 million to expand its marijuana cultivation and processing facility in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The company expects the expansion to create over 100 new jobs in the Scranton area.
Jushi plans to nearly double the square footage of its subsidiary's grower-processor facility in Scranton, Pennsylvania to more than 160,000 square feet from about 90,000 square feet, in a phased expansion.
The expansion project will mainly be focused on nearly tripling the facility's canopy space to about 98,000 square feet upon completion.
Jushi Holdings expects the first phase of the expansion to come online in mid-2021 and the final phase to be completed by the second quarter of 2022.
"The medical cannabis market in Pennsylvania is rapidly growing and with our products in high-demand, this investment will significantly expand our cultivation capacity and market share," said Jim Cacioppo, Chief Executive Officer, Chairman and Founder of Jushi.
Jushi, through its subsidiary Pennsylvania Medical Solutions, LLC, will work with Innovative Industrial Properties, Inc. to partially finance the expansion project through an upsize to the existing lease agreement between the parties.
Jushi said it recently completed an expansion project in the third quarter of 2020 that included more than doubling the facility's indoor cultivation to about 45,000 square feet from about 20,000 square feet and supplementing the current CO2 extraction with new ethanol extraction technology.
The facility, which produces indoor grown flower and extracts, is strategically located within minutes of Interstate 81, Interstate 84 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
Jushi noted that the facility's location enables efficient wholesale distribution to the 98 dispensaries currently operating across the commonwealth, including the company's eight operational Beyond/Hello dispensaries in Pennsylvania.
Jushi became owner of the Scranton cultivation facility following its acquisition of Pennsylvania Medical Solutions or PAMS earlier this year.
In August, Jushi said it closed its previously announced deal to acquire the entire equity of PAMS, a Pennsylvania grower-processor previously owned by Vireo Health International, Inc.
Upon closing of the deal, Jushi paid Vireo $16.3 million in cash, a $3.8 million seller note, and assumed a $17 million facility associated with a long-term lease obligation.
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