A recently formed Australian company is testing the waters on converting a commercial property near South Australian wine country into a medical cannabis cultivation center.
A development application for the tentative project was filed by Ausabis Group with City of Onkaparinga on the 10th of August relating to a “change of use to indoor medicinal cannabis cultivation and manufacturing” for a property located at 323 Foggo Road, McLaren Flat.
The property in question, which is currently for sale or lease, is described as being 10.4 acres and with a building floor area of around 3,938sqm. The property was previously sold in 2016 for a reported $1.21m
According to InDaily, a spokesperson for Ausabis Group said the company was “just kicking tyres” at this stage and hadn’t settled on South Australia as a base for its cultivation and manufacturing operations.
Currently, Ausabis Group’s main activity appears to be confined to assisting Canadian patients to obtain a prescription for medical cannabis. However, its web site also states “Ausabis Group is in the process of acquiring cultivation and manufacturing licenses to produce its own medical cannabis for patient and pharmacy distribution in Australia.”
To date, only seven parties are licensed under the Narcotic Drugs Act 1967 to manufacture medicinal cannabis products in Australia according to the Office of Drug Control (ODC) web site. Only 13 parties are licensed to supply products.
Ausabis Group lists addresses in Toronto, Canada and Bentleigh in Victoria. The company was incorporated in Australia at the end of January this year.
It’s not the first time tyres have been kicked on existing premises close to Adelaide for conversion to medical cannabis cultivation. Back in 2016, we reported a company had expressed interest in setting up a facility at the now closed Holden car plant in Elizabeth – but that didn’t eventuate.
While on the topic of Australian cannabis cultivation facilities – and one with a good chance of actually being built – there hasn’t been much news in recent months regarding an ambitious plan to build a huge greenhouse facility with cannabis production space and a medical research center in the Northern Rivers Region of New South Wales.
At 1,200,000 square feet (111,483 square metres), the Solaris Nutraceuticals project would the largest medicinal cannabis greenhouse and extraction facility in the southern hemisphere. The last we heard on the project was the company was still in the assessment stage for three licenses and was continuing to work with local governments and academia to make the facility a reality.
The Australian Government is taking the project seriously. Solaris Nutraceuticals, previously known PUF Ventures Australia, was awarded a $2,500,000 grant by the Government as part of the Regional Jobs Investment Program (RJIP) in February this year.
The company is owned by PUF Ventures Inc. (CSE: PUF), MYM Nutraceuticals Inc. (CSE: MYM), Chrome Holdings of Australia and private investors.
