New HCA for additional site across the street

By Theresa Knapp 

The Hopedale Select Board has granted a second Host Community Agreement to Lifted Genetics which intends to operate a second facility on Condon Way. 

At its meeting on Aug. 1, the board heard from Lifted Genetics founders Dave and Mike Griffiths who said the smaller facility will help them get their business started as soon as possible.

Lifted Genetics currently has an HCA for a 15,000 square foot facility they are in the process of building at 6 Condon Way, but this additional HCA is for 5 Condon Way, a 1,500 square foot building across the street that they plan to retrofit and for which they are now seeking a Tier 1 HCA. 

“Both locations would be cultivation of cannabis,” Dave Griffiths told the board. 

“The Tier 2 [6 Condon Way] for us is a much larger facility, it’s 15,000 square feet. It’s ground up. We need to finish developing the land, get the building dropped off, and build the whole interior. The location we found at 5 Condon Way is already an existing building, we just have to go inside, retrofit it to meet our needs, and then we can start production. So, it’s essentially a way for us to pre-proof-of-concept of our idea to start production and then segue into the larger facility - but same practice, both locations, same exact growing methods.” 

Dave Griffiths said they intend to keep both facilities operating in the future. 

Mike Griffiths told the board that noise on the site “is pretty much nonexistent except for an [air conditioner] running,” and lighting is contained within the building. 

“It’s very important to us to have airtight rooms,” said Dave Griffiths. “For the most part, especially in the smaller facility, no one would really know that we’re there, honestly. It’s a very dubbed-down version of the HCA that we already have with you guys…It’s an opportunity for us to get going a little bit quicker with the fact that the building is already in existence.” 

They will not be open to the general public. 

When the product is ready for market (after a six-month process), they will deliver it to dispensaries. They expect to have one or two delivery vans on site.