Portland’s Connecticut Pharmaceutical Solutions Inc. (CTPharma), one of the state’s four licensed medical marijuana growers, on Friday confirmed its plans to relocate operations to Rocky Hill.
Hartford Business Journal first reported last September that CTPharma scored a special permit from Rocky Hill’s Planning and Zoning Commission to move into a larger, 216,500-square-foot building vacated in recent years by pharmaceutical giant McKesson Corp.
CTPharma in a news release Friday said it completed its purchase of the Rocky Hill building at 280 Dividend Road for an undisclosed sum. The purchase price wasn’t immediately available, as the transaction had not been filed with the town assessor’s office as of Friday morning, an employee there said.
CTPharma CEO Tom Schutlz said the marijuana producer is “reluctantly” departing its 15,000-square-foot space at 47 Lower Main St. in Portland, where it began operating in 2014.
CTPharma, employing about 50 people, said it expects to relocate their operations from Portland to Rocky Hill in the next 18 months. Schultz said the company will double its workforce at its new headquarters.
“CTPharma’s relationship with the town of Portland was excellent and we were reluctant to leave,” Schultz said. “However, there were no buildings available in Portland that were big enough for CTPharma’s planned expansion and we were very fortunate to identify and purchase the McKesson property.”
There are currently 39,831 patients registered in Connecticut’s medical-marijuana program, including 9,424 in Hartford County. The state’s medical marijuana program was approved by state lawmakers in 2012.