Worcester Business Journal

14 Worcester Business Journal | November 27, 2017 | wbjournal.com F O C U S H E A L T H C A R E A new life Recreational and medical marijuana could be a $1.1B industry by 2020, and Athol wants in BY ZACHARY COMEAU Worcester Business Journal Staff Writer D ecades have passed since the Union Twist Drill building, a massive 360,000-square-foot mill on the Millers River, was the economic hub of Athol. Now, the century-old building is nearly entirely vacant, save for an office and a few areas where warehoused goods are stored. It's now owned by L.P. Athol Corp., an entity founded by now 93-year-old Bill Purple, a former mill worker. He purchased the building in when it closed in 1986 for $855,000 and since then, he, his daughter Cindy Hartwell and son-in-law Chuck Hartwell have been working to attract tenants to occupy the iconic building that once represented the Central Massachusetts' manufacturing industry. For the last several years, the family has been working with a developer to transform the massive space into a mixed-use development of apartments and commercial space. But a new opportunity is on the horizon, one that could make Athol and the Union Twist Drill building the center of a state industry expected to grow from $52 million to $1 billion by 2020: marijuana. A massive grow facility Two groups, Herbology Group, Inc., a nonprofit that holds a provisional license for the facility, and medical mar- ijuana company Sea Hunter Therapeutics, want to renovate and operate one of the largest pot-growing facilities in the state out of the building, potentially bringing hundreds of jobs back to the facility and Athol. Robert Liedy, representing Sea Hunter Therapeutics, asked the Board of Selectmen for a letter of non-opposi- tion in October. Once fully up and run- ning, the facility could bring up to 500 jobs to the region, he said. The building, he said, is uniquely suited to meet the needs of the facility. If all goes as planned, the company would develop at least 150,000-square- feet of the mill to begin, with the hopes of expanding to occupy the entire mill. No dollar figure was presented, but millions of dollars would be invested to renovate the property, and existing hydropower turbines will be renovated to provide power for the facility, which will require a large amount of electrici- ty, Liedy said at the meeting. The building is currently surrounded by natural features, water, a railroad and topography that make it secure, but substantial improvements would be made to ensure maximum security, Liedy said. Medical & recreational At the moment, Sea Hunter is only looking to grow marijuana for medici- nal purposes out of the build, although Liedy did not rule out tapping into the recreational market as well when he talked to selectmen. While the processes for medical mar- ijuana are already in place, the regula- tions for growing and selling recre- ational marijuana are still in develop- ment since the drug was legalized for recreational use in November 2016. Companies can begin applying to grow and sell recreational marijuana on April 1, according to the Cannabis Control Commission. The process for recreational marijuana companies would be the same for new medical marijuana businesses. Tapping into both recreational and medical would give Sea Hunter a huge market advantage. The medical mari- juana industry in Massachusetts totaled $52 million in 2016 and is expected to be $100 million in 2017, according to Washington, D.C. advocacy group New Frontier data. But the total marijuana market is expected to be $1.1 billion by 2020, with roughly 75 percent of that coming from recreational use, according to New Frontier. The opposite of a ban Despite the earliness of the process and the possibility that this exciting Site: 13 acres Building: 360,000 square feet Former use: Tool factory Closed: 1986 Job potential of marijuana grow facility: Up to 500 jobs Pay range: $35,000-$150,000 annually Cultivation space: 150,000 to 200,000 square feet to start Sources: Sea Hunter Therapeutics, Town of Athol Athol marijuana facility P H O T O S / E D D C O T E Chuck and Cindy Hartwell are hesitant but optimistic about potentially landing a marijuana grow facility tenant at the Union Twist Drill building.

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