Pot grower gears up for recreational market in New Mexico.

By Associated Press

Cannabis provider Ultra Health says it has completed the purchase of a former bakery and adjacent land in southern New Mexico that will open the way for a large-scale marijuana growing and manufacturing campus.

The property purchase in Alamogordo takes place as New Mexico prepares for the start of recreational marijuana sales by April 1, 2022. Regulators are putting the finishing touches on the licensing process for an array of marijuana businesses.

On Monday, Ultra Health Chief Marketing Officer Marissa Novel said the property deal at Alamogordo was nearly two years in the making. 

Ultra Health plans to grow cannabis both indoors and outside at the new facility, with space to trim, dry and cure the onsite crop and offer services to other growers, she said. The property includes production facilities spanning 5 acres (2 hectares).

“It’s envisioned to be this campus where you can see a variety of cannabis activities take place in a very collaborative environment,” Novel said. 

Ultra Health — headquartered in Bernalillo and Scottsdale, Arizona — also announced intentions to apply for a license with federal government to conduct research on cannabis cultivation.

The investment highlights the financial stakes in a new statewide marketplace for recreational marijuana.

More than 100,000 residents already are enrolled in the state’s existing medical marijuana program for people with qualifying conditions such as cancer, chronic pain and post-traumatic stress.

Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed legislation in April to allow possession of up to 2 ounces (56 grams) of weed and levy taxes on sales of recreational marijuana.