Developer Building 19-Acre State-Of-The-Art Cannabis Farm In North Richmond
RICHMOND (KPIX) -- A state-of-the-art pot facility is breaking ground in the East Bay. A developer has begun construction of a cannabis mega-campus on the North Richmond coastline, just off the Richmond Parkway.
As he surveyed the windswept piece of land, with an amazing view of Mt. Tamalpais in the distance, Richard Treiber could hardly believe his dream is coming true.
"This was a vision that I had 4½ years ago, that's now come to reality," he said.
Trieber is building Power Plant Park, a 19-acre, start-to-finish facility for the production and sale of cannabis. The ground has been leveled on Phase One of the project and is ready for construction to begin. When it's finished it will contain 45 large state-of-the-art greenhouses and other buildings to include every aspect of the business.
"In our case, we have the ability, from seed to shelf, to manage the entire process of cultivation, processing, manufacturing, packaging, branding, labeling, and then distribution, retail-wholesale distribution," said Trieber.
The product will be retail-distributed in a drive-through pick up line, for orders that have been placed online. Otherwise the entire campus will be closed except for those working there.
Trieber came up with a unique way of getting funding. He is selling individual greenhouses to investors. They own the buildings and can either grow their own or act as a landlord, renting it to Trieber to use for his own production. He said he's already sold 28 units, raising 14 million dollars.
"The momentum has been pretty good," said Trieber. "And as we sell more units, we find more people interested in buying more units."
Andrew Butt, the project's architect, said it's always difficult to get anything built when it's right next to the Bay.
"The real challenge has been getting all the boxes checked as far as getting out into the ground and building the buildings," he said. "The building of the buildings is the easy part."
It hasn't been easy at all. The project has stalled due to lack of funding on more than one occasion. Now, the first greenhouses could be ready as soon as February, with the entire project finished in about a year, assuming the funding continues.
But Trieber just keeps thinking about the first time he saw the property.
"And I blinked and for a second I saw this park, just illuminated in my mind," he said, "you know, a campus, a park--like Yosemite."
Ok, he may be a dreamer but it's a dream that's coming true.
