Medical Marijuana Facility Proposed For Downing Industrial Park
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Nial DeMena presented the plan to the Community Development Board on Tuesday and received a site plan approval. |
The Greeneway Wellness Foundation is looking to open a dispensary in the Downing Industrial Park. The dispensary would be located in the former Berkshire Beef Co. building.
The foundation is one of the applicants statewide to receive a permit for a Cambridge location.
During the next round of expedited permitting, the company hopes to receive state approval for the Berkshires location as well.
The organization has tapped one of the former heads of Manna Wellness, Nial DeMena, for the Berkshire's project. Manna Wellness had applied to open a dispensary in the city but was not accepted into the next round.
"They're mission is really closely aligned with ours," DeMena said on Tuesday.
Manna is still under reconsideration but DeMena is not currently working for that organization.
"He's [John Greeneway] been very interested in tailoring a dispensary to the Berkshires," DeMena said, and since DeMena has the experience of crafting a Berkshires project, he was hired.
The Downing Industrial Park location won't include any cultivation and will follow the strict security guidelines set by the state.
"It is really a golden set of regulations," DeMena said, adding that DPH "took the best" regulations from other states and disregarded the regulations that weren't working.
Julia Germaine, who too headed the Manna proposal, also voiced support of the project and called the location "non-invasive."
DeMena says eventually Greeneway would look to expand their services beyond just the medicinal marijuana. But that is far down the road after the company receives all of the permits and operates the business for a while.
"It is his intention to expand and offer complementary services," DeMena said.
Greeneway is only the second medical marijuana dispensary the Community Development Board has seen. The board previously approved the plan from Total Health and Wellness Inc. to open one on Dalton Avenue. However, they too were not selected for the next phase of the application process.
