Former National Basketball Association star Chris Webber’s cannabis company Players Only Holdings broke ground on Tuesday on a 180,000-square-foot, $50 million cannabis “compound” in southwest Detroit, the Detroit Free Press reports. The Webber Wellness Compound will include a dispensary, cannabis operations and training facility, a cultivation facility, and a consumption lounge.
Players Only Holdings was founded by Webber, a Detroit, Michigan native, and entrepreneur Lavetta Willis.
“This is my biggest priority in life. I’ve seen who (Willis) and I have helped across the country and the lives that have been disrupted by cannabis. Hopefully, we can do a little bit of repairing. Hopefully, we can help the city.”—Webber via the Free Press
The first phase of the project is expected to be completed by March 2022. A phase two expansion will include an 80,000-square-foot expansion of the cultivation facility but there is no timeline for that development.
Webber in February launched a $100 million cannabis-focused private equity fund aimed at investing in cannabis companies led by entrepreneurs of color. The compound is the first tangible step for the project.
Webber told the Free Press that the three-month training program will be run by Cookies U, a job training and placement program that recruits students from minority and underrepresented communities. The facility will also include record expungement offices for individuals who want those services even if they are not planning to work in the industry.
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