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Date: 7/5/2023
HOLYOKE — An ongoing public hearing for a special permit application through the Ordinance Committee would lead to more growth at 1 Cabot St. in Holyoke, a location that has become a marijuana cultivation hub, as Red Barn Growers is looking to add a manufacturing operation in more units in the building.
The hearing opened during the committee’s June 27 meeting, where representatives from Red Barn Growers joined in the council chambers to describe their plans through the application. Legal counsel for Red Barn Isaac Fleisher explained this application was to operate a microbusiness inside of units 5 and 6 of the building.
Fleisher noted the space was probably familiar to the committee as establishments currently residing in the building, including others represented by Fleisher, had to come through for a similar process. He added Red Barn Growers is going to be a tenant of 1 Cabot St., operating in a leased area of about 4,400 square feet according to Fleisher.
The application as a microbusiness allows for a tier one cultivation and marijuana product manufacturing, the goal of Red Barn for this space. The company’s proposal would have them posted on the second floor of the building, where they are planning for three grow rooms over 1,200 square feet gross base of actual canopy and cultivation.
Assistant City Solicitor Kathleen Degnan said the applicants are in the process of securing a host-community agreement that has to be approved. Fleisher said he anticipated one coming together and being completed in the coming weeks and the stall on getting it done has come due to changes made in state statutes regarding impact fees. The biggest change, according to Fleisher, is that marijuana impact fees can no longer be calculated as a percentage of gross revenue.
Owner of Red Barn Growers David Gray told the committee he plans on three to four employees for the operation. Gray is a retired Chicopee firefighter with 44 years of service.
“What we’re looking to do is high quality craft cannabis, keeping a small footprint, LED lighting, staying as green as we can with it all. That’s about it,” Gray said.
At-Large City Councilor Israel Rivera asked Gray what he expects Red Barn Growers to bring into the community. Rivera said he asks every marijuana related applicant similar to this the question and explained that he thought it was important, especially when one of these companies was looking to move in a “historically underserved community.”
Gray said his goal was to hire employees from Holyoke as well as be good neighbors. He added he was focused on following any city and state regulations to the tee as well.
Michael Sweitzer of building contractor Sweitzer Construction joined the discussion as well, saying his employees that work daily at the site rehabbing and working on the third and fourth floors of the building dine out every day for lunch, adding a boost the economy in the neighborhood.
Sweitzer added that the vision of building owner Tom Cusano for the space “has blown me away” and said of all the cannabis building projects he has worked on, those involved with this space all share love for the Paper City.
“This is truly the only product I’ve been a part of where everyone from Tom, right down to the bottom tenant truly cares about each other, and the wellbeing of the community without question,” Sweitzer said.
Sweitzer added that he has no contract with Red Barn Growers and was just joining the meeting to answer any questions relating to the building’s ongoing work.
Designing floor plans for the space is Michael Palin, an architect from Maier Design Group of out Hartford, Connecticut, who showed the committee the planned use of the space. He also added the graffiti spread across a portion of the building has been cleaned up.
“This is a unique building. I’ve done a lot of work in retail malls and it’s a good analogy because multiple tenants in this building are working on a smaller scale than most growers have been growing it and operating on in the state,” Palin said. “It’s a multi-tenant community that’s going to be developed in this building.”
Other current marijuana cultivation and or manufacturing companies already inside the 1 Cabot St. building are Blossom Flower, baked goods and beverage edible makers Infused Elements and Mill Town Agriculture.
Palin added the third and fourth floors of the building are to be developed to allow for more space for interested future businesses under the same mold of the other companies sharing the building. He added the building has gone through the process of making sure they were updated to code and his job is helping to make sure the building is safe despite its age.
The public hearing was tabled as Red Barn awaits its host-community agreement to be completed and feedback from the Planning Board to the committee was still being collected. The next Ordinance Committee meeting will be in August where Red Barn will join the re-opened public hearing and look to become the next addition to the growing marijuana mall.