Global Hemp Group’s goal of creating a hemp industrial park and hemp based residential development took another step towards fruition last week.
Its Hayden, Colorado Hemp Agro-Industrial Zone (“HAIZ”) will see the production of raw materials and other value-added products in a centralized location adjacent to where the hemp is being farmed. Additionally, part of the zone will host affordable environmentally friendly homes in a Planned Unit Development utilizing hemp-based construction materials.
Last week, the company announced a contract had been fully executed for 664 acres of contiguous land; bringing the current total land assemblage for the venture to 874+ acres either closed or under definitive contract.
The first acquisition was a 44+ acre annexed and zoned industrial/commercial site, which will house a centralized processing/manufacturing center. The second was a 166+ acre annexed property for development of the affordable housing (pending closing). This latest acquisition will be land used for cultivation activities.
GHG notes the development will also access to significant water resources through existing water rights and the integration of infrastructure to transform dry land farming acreage into irrigated land. While hemp is by no means the thirstiest of crops, availability of additional water can produce a faster-growing and better crop.
“By utilizing a campus setting like that of the HAIZ, the Company will efficiently implement these vertically integrated functions; water, agriculture, processing and housing,” says GHG. “Proven industry professionals have been engaged to work alongside IHT’s management in the areas of agriculture, R&D, manufacturing, and construction to achieve the Company’s objectives.”
IHT – Innovative Hemp Technologies – is the banner under which the project is being developed.
The manufacturing area will initially focus on creating the hemp-based building materials to be utilised at the residential development, and GHG expects to expand the manufacturing focus to encompass the use the fibre from the hemp plant, in addition to the hemp hurd utilised in building materials.
Growing and manufacturing the materials needed to build a residential development right next door to where it is being developed is a pretty interesting concept. It’s an ambitious project that may be worth keeping track of.