🔒Rocky Hill-bound marijuana grower reaching new heights at redeveloped McKesson site

As Connecticut’s medical marijuana program begins to treat individuals suffering from chronic pain, the state says it’s expecting the number of registered patients to nearly double in the coming years.

That will significantly increase demand for medical marijuana products; Connecticut currently has more than 41,500 registered adult and pediatric medical marijuana patients.

Connecticut Pharmaceutical Solutions Inc. (CTPharma), one of the state’s four licensed medical marijuana growers, says it’s planning to meet that need by dramatically increasing its footprint in a 216,500-square-foot warehouse/distribution center in Rocky Hill recently vacated by pharmaceutical giant McKesson Corp. CTPharma currently occupies just 15,000 square feet in Portland.

On a recent tour of the new site, at 280 Dividend Road, CTPharma Chief Operations Officer Rino Ferrarese estimated the pharmaceutical company will invest roughly $30 million to renovate the space it acquired for $7.5 million in February. The project’s first phase will be completed in early July, he said, making room for the immediate arrival of hundreds of cannabis plants.

Upon completion of the renovation and move in December, the 50-employee company will have more than doubled the size of the state’s medical marijuana growing capacity, which currently has about 200,000 square feet of production space in Portland, Simsbury, West Haven and Watertown, Ferrarese said. The sprawling Rocky Hill facility will also become one of the largest marijuana growing operations in the nation, according to multiple industry reports.

“This is like a dream come true,” said Ferrarese, who co-authored the company’s business plan with CEO Tom Schultz some 15 years ago. “When we saw this building we had to have it.”

CTPharma tried to stay in Portland but there were no available buildings large enough for the planned expansion.

In an effort to keep its workforce within commuting distance, Schultz said the company considered several facilities and vacant properties in Greater Hartford, including in Hartford, Middletown, New Britain and South Windsor.

McKesson’s former site, though, emerged as CTPharma’s top choice because of its location, condition and previous use supporting large-scale pharmaceutical operations, Schultz said.

“When people ask what it’s going to be like to have us in their town I say it will look an awful lot like someone who makes chocolate bars or aspirin,” said Schultz, who plans to double CTPharma’s staff by next year.

CTPharma is almost halfway done with the 11-month renovation project.

Schultz, a former Wall Street lawyer and investment banker, said the high-tech building will ensure quality and purity of cannabis products by using standard regulatory practices developed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

That means gradually moving small cannabis plants through various phases of production until they are fully harvested and packaged for distribution to any of the state’s 17 dispensaries.

[Read more: COVID-19 mandates clear red tape for CT’s medical marijuana industry]

There will be 30, 1,500-square-foot rooms set up for experimenting with and processing, harvesting, drying and curing cannabis plants — some of which will be housed in a 2,400-square-foot, 8-inch thick vault, according to Ferrarese.

The building has 1,000 high-pressure sodium lights for cultivating cannabis, a bakery to make edibles, a ventilation system designed to prevent odors from escaping outside and flexible plastic wall panels that can be wiped down into conveniently placed floor drains.

It also houses 10,000 square feet of laboratory space for CTPharma to accelerate its research and development operations.

The company is currently conducting a study with the Yale School of Medicine to determine the impact of various medicinal marijuana strains commonly used to alleviate pain and stress. It’s also investing in research with UConn to examine breeding and cultivation practices to create innovative products. Both are registered research studies with the state Department of Consumer Protection, which oversees the state’s medical pot program.

“We are a full pharmaceutical company,” Ferrarese said, adding that grow rooms in the first phase space will generate up to nearly 10,000 pounds of dry cannabis flower in the first year. “We will initially bring in 800 to 1,000 cuttings from Portland and they will start their life here and make their way through each of these rooms.”

[Read more: As CT’s medical marijuana industry grows, finding, training workers creates challenges, opportunities]

Like many essential businesses during the coronavirus outbreak, Ferrarese said the company has implemented staggered shifts, supplied face masks and temperature readings for employees and increased frequent cleanings since March.

Those COVID-19-related safety measures are also being used in Rocky Hill as staff begin to occupy the first 100,000 square feet of the building in the coming weeks. The move will happen gradually and the Portland facility will remain open into 2021 as a backup operation.

“It’s business as usual,” Ferrarese said. “As this starts ramping up, our first harvest from here should be available in November.”

Deal roundup

The longtime home of Adesso Moda Salon in Hamden has been sold for $385,000.

The 1,900-square-foot commercial building at 2524 and 2536 Dixwell Ave., will be the new location for SMB Networks LLC, which is relocating from another Hamden site.

SMB Networks provides medical practices with IT, computer, security and EMR support.

Stephen Press, of Press/Cuozzo Commercial Services, represented the sellers, A Spray Trust. The buyer, TCE Holdings LLC, was represented by Jeanette Politano of CB NRT. Its principal of record is Peter Verlezza of 2519 Whitney Ave., Hamden.

Joe Cooper is HBJ’s web editor and real estate writer. He pens “The Real Deal” column about commercial real estate.