A $40 million marijuana campus is coming to Orion Township.
It will house growers, processors and distributors – all in one. The nearly 300-square-foot business park is near 24 highway and Dutton Road.
“Literally hundreds of jobs from Orion Township to Oakland County through this business park,” said Ryan Jundt, Oakland Business Park principal.
The building where operations will take place was once a vacant industrial field that sat in the shadow of a landfill. It will soon become a sprawling state of the art three-facility business park for weed.
“Marijuana is one of those topics that’s obviously taboo,” Jundt said.
According to Jundt, the 280-square-foot park will be home to growers – those who turn those plants into product and then those who ship it.
“Its a park full of business professionals and I mean that in the truest sense of the word," Jundt said. "It's business professionals and medical experts.”
The business venture had to clear a lot of hurdles when dealing with such a controversial industry, including licensing through the state's medical marijuana program. And locally, ordinances to keep it away from people who would disapprove.
“The traffic count had to be low," said Donnie Steele, Orion Township treasurer. "It cant be near schools. It cant be near churches. It cant be near residential areas.”
The boom will have a big impact on the area.
“The personal property tax the residential property tax the licenses," Steele said. "The building permits, it all goes in as revenue”
There's promise there, he added, with 75 percent of the park's tenants already lined up.
“Yes is it new, yes is there some risk? Sure," Jundt said. "But, at the end of the day this is a really cool industry to be invested in and we feel really good about it.”
Though recreational marijuana is on the November ballot, the cannabis business park will go forward regardless. It's already planned to be medical based and would transition over if the proposal passes.
