FOREST PARK, Ohio — The medical cannabis industry is growing in the city of Forest Park.
King City Gardens is the first medical marijuana cultivation facility in Hamilton County. The $35 million, 25,000-square-foot facility held its official ribbon cutting Wednesday.
Co-founder Caveh Azadeh said the facility will distribute to dispensaries statewide with a local emphasis.
"(Patients are) going to be able to get much higher quality cannabis, with people that really care not only about cannabis, but about the local area,” Azadeh said. “We’re going to have a product for almost any type of patient."
The facility, which produces 42 different strains, specializes in craft cannabis. Justin Matherly, director of grow operations, said it’s never been produced at this scale.
Once fully up-and-running, 400-500 pounds of marijuana will leave the facility every week.
Matherly said a common misconception about growing marijuana is that it’s easy.
“It’s actually very hard,” he said. “You actually gotta love what you’re doing, or you’ll never make it in this business.”
The facility is rooted in technology, he said. The aim is to create the most idealistic conditions for the plant, from humidity to light to nutrients.
“I’ve done this for a long time,” Matherly said. “So this is kind of more of a passion.”
Just off Wilson Road, the space is a former K-Mart and Omniplex. The facility itself is not available to patients. It’s surrounded by fences in a nondescript building. Instead, they ship their products to dispensaries around the state.
The company is closely watching the results of November’s Issue 2, which would legalize recreational marijuana.
If legalized, Azadeh said, the company has plans to expand four or five times its current size. Physically, 50,000 additional square feet is waiting in an adjoining building.
Forest Park Mayor Aharon Brown said the biggest benefit to the city is the income tax from the approximately 100 employees.
“We want to be forward thinking on this industry,” Brown said. “We are completely capitalizing on it.”
