Construction begins on 40-acre cannabis cultivation facility in Coachella

Coachella is celebrating a groundbreaking today on the Coachella Cann Park, a cannabis cultivation, manufacturing, and distribution facility. City officials hoping the three-phase project will bring hundreds of jobs and an economic boom to the city.

“This facility is going to have three stories, four to five buildings. It’s going to provide cultivation, as well as distribution and manufacturing. Ultimately, the goal here is to create jobs for the locals, and with that said, making sure we provide services and programs for those that live here in the city of Coachella,” said Riverside County Supervisor Manuel Perez.

The facility will be over 40 acres at the northeast corner of Harrison Street and Avenue 48 the site of an old junkyard.

“We thought it was important as people came into the city of Coachella that they saw a different view of what the city was, knowing that the car wrecking junk business was going out,” Perez said.

“We are moving forward on a robust cannabis industry in our wrecking zone. To come to think, this was an auto-wrecking area and now its slowly being transformed, I think is the culmination of a vision and the fact that this is happening its a good sign of the direction of the city and the industry in the city of coachella.,” said Coachella Mayor Steven Hernandez.

Michael Mead, president of Desert Rock Development, said 250 jobs are expected to be created by the construction of the facility. When complete, the project is expected to create up to 500 permanent jobs.

“I think it’s going to create jobs and lead to a lot of tax revenue for the city of Coachella and other cities that have embraced this use and bring revenue through the Coachella Valley,” Mead said. “There will be a lot of high paying jobs. Jobs that can allow families to purchase homes.”

“I think for us, we are really ensuring that we make this the largest powered, cannabis zone in the United States. We are focused on making sure that all of our projects have the utilities to be successful,” Hernandez said.

Constructed is expected to be complete by early 2020.