NBA Hall of Famer Chris Webber and his business partner Lavetta Willis as well as cannabis investor and executive Jason Wild, took to smashing concrete this Tuesday.
The trio’s pavement smashing marked the groundbreaking of a $50 million investment to transform an old factory into a cutting-edge cannabis “conservatory.”
At least thats how Webber refers to it.
“I love my city,” says Webber to Forbes.
The NBA Hall of Famer had played high school basketball at Detroit Country Day and then went on to play at the University of Michigan. He later became the NBA’s number-one draft pick in 1993.
“I want to be the shining jewel of cannabis, I want us to be the example of diversity, the example of a village of people that have stayed and made a decision to help a city,” Webber said.
Webber’s marijuana brand is called Players Only and is transforming the nine-acre industrial site into the Webber Wellness Conservatory.
According to a Forbes article, the site will feature a 60,000-square foot cultivation facility and will be run by Michigan-based cannabis company Gage Growth.
There will also be a 8,000 square foot Players Only dispensary, a consumption lounge and Cookies U, a cannabis job training program.
Webber is planning to have the dispensary open by March Madness and the cultivation site will be open within 18 months to start growing product. The lounge will then be open by next summer.
“I want to help people like my father and mother, people who love their family, who protect their family, who put food on the table and make Detroit a better place,” says Webber. “If I can do that for others, then I’ve done my job.”
Of Players Only, Webber says, “We’re just really trying to be profitable, address the ills of the past, get a diverse group together and go out with a bunch of fun and inspire people.”
