New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
MariMed Inc., today announced the purchase of a 137,500 sq. ft. industrial building on 17 acres at 167 John Vertente Blvd., in the New Bedford, Mass., industrial park for a purchase price of $6,895,000. MariMed will develop approximately 70,000 sq. ft. into a full service state of the art medical cannabis cultivation and production facility that has been leased to ARL Healthcare, Inc. (ARL), a Massachusetts not for profit corporation. MariMed assisted ARL Healthcare in its successful application to be awarded a Massachusetts Registered Marijuana Dispensary (RMD) License for cultivation, production, and dispensing of medical cannabis. Under the license, and in agreement with the City of New Bedford, this facility will be used solely to cultivate and produce cannabis medicine and related products. These products will be distributed to patients licensed by the Massachusetts Dept. of Public Health at three ARL dispensaries in other municipalities.
New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell stated, “The acquisition of the John Vertente Boulevard site is an important milestone because it brings us that much closer to the day when the City is able to share in ARL’s success under the Host Community Agreement we negotiated in 2016. Under our Agreement, once the facility is operational, ARL will provide substantial annual benefits to the City and residents of New Bedford, including significant mitigation payments, the hiring of local workers, and the use local small businesses. Based on the company’s community-oriented approach and the effective working relationship we have developed, I have every expectation ARL will succeed here in New Bedford.”
MariMed will assist ARL in the development and ongoing management of this cultivation and manufacturing facility. ARL expects to employ 50 to 100 people and commence cultivation in the first quarter of 2018, with the first products in dispensaries in second or third quarter of 2018, pending receipt of state approvals.
“As a Massachusetts-based company, we congratulate our neighbor ARL on their successful license application and are eager to help them become the best medical cannabis company in this State to provide high quality, safe cannabis medicine and treatments to licensed patients in need of consistent relief,” stated Jon Levine, MariMed CFO. “This property purchase represents the continuing execution of MariMed’s strategy to acquire assets that will, in turn, increase revenue and earnings for all of our business units and generate tax revenue for the state.”
“There is no substitute for experience, and that is why we chose MariMed to design, build out and optimize our cultivation, production and dispensary facilities,” noted Kenneth Housman, president of ARL Healthcare, Inc. “MariMed’s standard operating procedures and best practices have proven successful with its medical cannabis clients in multiple states.”
