Former South Okanagan mill property could see new life as cannabis growing facility

PENTICTON – Some long vacant industrial land in Okanagan Falls could find new purpose as a medical cannabis growing facility.

Sunniva Inc. has selected the 126-acre site, which formerly housed the Okanagan Falls Weyerhaeuser lumber mill, to build the Sunniva Canada Campus, a 700,000 square foot greenhouse facility that is anticipated to produce more than 100,000 kilograms of medical cannabis annually, according to a media release.

The property has been idle since Weyerhaeuser closed and dismantled the mill in 2008.

Sunniva has entered into an agreement for the entire property for a purchase price of $7 million. The sale is expected to close around June 15.

The company's investor relations manager George Jurcic says construction on the facility is underway, with an anticipated completion date towards the start of 2019. He says live streaming cameras will be installed on site so the public can view construction progress.

Sunniva looked at several possible locations for its facility in the South Okanagan prior to selecting the former mill site. The company determined the Okanagan Falls site to be best suited because there is room for future expansion.

The company has an application before the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen board of directors this week for approval of a floodplain exemption on Shuttleworth Creek to allow for construction of the facility.

Sunniva had announced negotiations with the Osoyoos Indian Band for land in the Senkulmen Business Park near the Okanagan Correctional Centre earlier this year.

Sunniva is a vertically integrated medical cannabis company operating in Canada and California.

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