6 Retail Marijuana Shops Selected For Framingham

FRAMINGHAM, MA — City officials are done wading through retail marijuana shop applications and have picked the six companies that are recommended to Mayor Yvonne Spicer for agreement negotiations. The mayor's Marijuana Advisory Team (MAT) is backing these six businesses to open in the city. City rules dictate that the maximum number of retail marijuana shops is six.

The city issued a statement that said the MAT stopped reviewing new applications on May 20. So far, two businesses have signed agreements to set up shop in the city: Union Twist and Temescal Wellness.

Union Twist is planned to be located at 630 Worcester Road. In Union Twist's application the company cites a "commitment to diverse and local hiring" and plans on having 30 percent of their workforce be black, African American, Hispanic or Latino; live in Framingham or in areas disproportionately hurt by drug laws; have experience growing a business.

Temescal Wellness is planned to be located at 665 Cochituate Road, to be co-located with its existing Registered Marijuana Dispensary (RMD).

Four other businesses have been cleared to move forward with negotiations including Cultivate Holdings at 250 Worcester Road, Innovative Flower at 655 Cochituate Road, BCWC at 1137 Worcester Road and Patient Centric of Martha's Vineyard at 85 Worcester Road.

Both Cultivate Holdings and Innovative Flower plan to be co-located with a Registered Marijuana Dispensary (RMD) to offer both adult use and medical marijuana. Cultivate plans to be located at 250 Worcester Rd. and brings a bit more experience to the field, being the first business to open a retail shop in the state with their Leicester location. Cultivate bought the property at 2 Pierce St. to accommodate extra parking, according to Chief Operating Officer Thatcher Kezer.

Innovative Flower would run its dispensary out of the property next door to Temescal Wellness.

BCWC, which has plans to change its name at the Framingham location to NovaFarms, recently bought the property at 1151 Worcester Road for $900,00. The Attleboro based business plans on having three medical and recreational dispensaries throughout the state — one in Framingham, one in Attleboro and one in Mansfield.

Patient Centric of Martha’s Vineyard plans to open in a commercial building on Worcester Road.

Business Doesn't Stop At Dispensaries

While the city is limited in the number of dispensaries it can house, it has no limit to other kinds of marijuana business, including growing facilities and manufacturers.

Three other businesses have been invited to start negotiations with the mayor. Invitations to negotiate agreements for marijuana cultivation and product manufacturing have been extended to: Caregiver-Patient Connection, for marijuana cultivation and product manufacturing at 60 and 61 Tripp Street; Cloud Creamery, for marijuana product manufacturing at 119 Herbert Street; and to Commonwealth Farm 1761, for marijuana cultivation at 1062 Edmands Road.

Caregiver- Patient Connection applied for a combination product manufacturer & cultivator license. The company plans to build a growing facility at 61 Tripp St and selling their product wholesale to marijuana dispensaries across the state. The company has owned the industrial complex on Tripp Street since 1995 and plans on hiring 25 workers.

Cloud Creamery makes marijuana-infused ice cream for hospitals and dispensaries. It was the first marijuana product manufacturer to get the green light from the Marijuana Advisory Team to move forward with negotiations. The financial goal for Cloud Creamery is to earn over $400,000 in their first year of operation, according to their application.

The most recent business to submit a proposed agreement with the city is Commonwealth Farm 1761 Inc, backed by Hollywood actor Jonathan Tucker. The company has plans to cultivate and manufacture cannabis on Eastleigh Farm. Commonwealth Farm 1761 has plans to establish an indoor cultivation facility on 12 acres of Eastleigh Farm. Products will be packaged and sold to wholesale dispensaries, not directly to customers.