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IDA Support Helps Warwick Business Park Flourish on Fast-Growing Cannabis Industry

In the Town of Warwick, a burgeoning campus is emerging as a vital center for cannabis growth, testing and production, driving the local and regional economy by joining in one of the country’s fastest-growing industries.

The last plots on the 150-acre campus now known as the Warwick Valley Business and Technology Corporate Park, were purchased by Green Thumb Industries, one of several hemp-related businesses that will operate there. The Chicago-based company is constructing a 450,000-square-foot building to grow and process cannabis.

The pioneering cannabis-based core is the heart of a vital campus that bustles with enterprises that highlight Orange County’s strengths, including an athletic center and a taproom that is part of the region’s craft beverage scene.

To think the property was home to a prison not too long ago. The park has taken shape on the former grounds of the Mid-Orange Correctional Facility, one of seven prisons that New York State closed in 2011 to save money.

“Planting a flag at a former prison that used to incarcerate people for cannabis and will now employ people to grow cannabis is another example of the full circle nature of this industry,” said Ben Kovler, Founder and CEO of Green Thumb, which is a national cannabis consumer packaged goods company and retailer.

The growth of the cannabis businesses in the park was made possible with more than $3.5 million in support and innovative financing from the Orange County Industrial Development Agency. The investment was such a success that $3 million of it has been repaid and the campus is thriving and creating hundreds of jobs.

The first step in the campus’ rebirth came three years after the prison closed when the state, at the request of Warwick Town Supervisor Michael Sweeton, turned the 730 acres over to the town and the Warwick Valley Local Development Corporation. The Orange County IDA joined the endeavor and provided the support that made the cannabis center possible.

Roughly half of the property was wetlands. About 150 acres of the rest were converted to the now-popular Wickham Woodlands Park. Another 150 acres became the corporate park.

The Orange County IDA helped drive the development with an initial investment of $1,050,000 in 2014. The Warwick Valley LDC used that funding to prepare 10 shovel-ready pad sites, covering 50 acres, each supplied with water, sewer, natural gas and fiber-optic service. A new road and cul-de-sac provided access to the pad sites.

“We were able to attract the businesses because of the IDA and that program,” Sweeton said. “That really launched us on our way to being competitive in marketing the site.”

In 2018, the Orange County IDA made its next major investment: $2.5 million to create a business accelerator – a space to incubate businesses – with a focus on cannabis-related operations. It found a home in the former Manor House, which was renovated for the purpose.

The incentives worked. UrbanXtracts opened in the former barn on the site, cultivating and processing cannabis and its extracts “from seed to sale.” It offers a “white label” service, processing and packaging products on order from other companies, which add their labels and marketing. Phyto-Farma Labs tests the cannabis for potency and other characteristics. Citiva Medical purchased 8.5 acres for a 39,500 square-foot medical cannabis cultivation and processing facility.

Taken as a whole, the businesses cover all aspects of the cannabis business, from growing and harvesting the crop, testing it for potency and other characteristics, extracting THC and CDB, and producing balms, lotions, edible items and more.

They anchor a campus that also is home to diverse businesses, including a bus manufacturer and an excavation company. An important economic driver, the campus now contributes significantly to the vibrant life of the region. The Drowned Lands Brewery in the business park offers beers crafted on the notion of terroir, which means deriving its character and taste from the surrounding environment. In this case, that includes the famously rich “black dirt” soil and the local water. Hudson Sports Complex on the campus offers fields, courts and batting cages “to provide world-class training space in the Hudson Valley for individuals, groups, and teams,” according to its website.

The Park’s success and vitality have drawn the praise of Orange County Executive Steven M. Neuhaus. “The Warwick Tech Park is a great success story and I credit the Town of Warwick and the Orange County IDA for their vision and collaboration on this innovative project,” Neuhaus said.

The development of cannabis businesses entered its final phase when Green Thumb Industries bought the final eight parcels, covering about 40 acres. The company cut the ribbon Sept. 9, 2021, on the facility that will grow and process the crop. The Orange County IDA also gave Green Thumb a 15-year tax abatement and other benefits.

“The Orange County IDA has been an unbelievable partner throughout this entire process,” said Kovler, the Green Thumb CEO. “When the facility closed, they sought out a variety of business partners and we are happy to have been selected based on our values and long-term goals. We are excited to bring jobs and economic opportunity to the town of Warwick.”

Green Thumb’s facility is expected to be completely built by 2023. At that time, the company will hire nearly 175 employees over three years with salaries ranging from $50,000 to $100,000.

As the cannabis-centered campus continues to become more productive, the companies are taking root. The Orange County IDA has been reimbursed all but $500,000 of the $3.5 million invested. That includes the $1,050,000 spent preparing the shovel-ready sites. In December 2021, the Warwick Valley LDC paid back $2 million to the IDA, covered by a New York State “Economic Transformation” grant. The site qualified for the state grant as a former prison site closed by the state.

“What our IDA accomplished at the Warwick Tech Park – in partnership with the Town of Warwick – was a strategic, well-calculated investment in local economic development and one we will look to replicate,” said Bill Fioravanti, the Orange County IDA chief executive officer. “Thanks to the vision and collaboration of the Orange County IDA and Supervisor Sweeton, what could have easily become a blighted campus is now an economic drive.”

“Now that the funds are paid back,” added Orange County IDA Chairman Michael Torelli “we can invest it in the next project to benefit the county.”