Chris Webber Breaks Ground On $50M Cannabis Facility In Detroit

DETROIT — Detroit native and NBA Hall of Famer Chris Webber is building a $50 million cannabis and training facility in Southwest Detroit.

Webber co-founded the new operation, which will be called Players Only Holdings, with entrepreneur Lavetta Willis, and said it will focus on growing and selling marijuana, brand partnerships and real estate development.

"We will create, foster and provide a cannabis ecosystem that celebrates diversity, creates jobs, and benefits this community – focusing intensely on those who are being left behind," Webber said in a news release. "As social equity programs struggle in many states, we are here to support legacy operators who created the foundation for this industry so that they are included in future iterations of it while we wait on the politics to catch up."

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The group partnered with Cookies U to run the training program. Cookies U provides training and job placement services that focus on minorities and underrepresented communities.

Webber said the training program will be a three-month intensive program that will train students for a wide range of jobs, from budtending (selling cannabis) to cultivating marijuana, the Detroit Free Press said.

Players Only Holdings will be built in Corktown, near Michigan Ave. and the Fisher Service Dr. in Southwest Detroit. The 180,000-square-foot facility will feature 60,000 square feet of cultivation space, an 8,000-square-foot dispensary and a private cannabis consumption lounge, according to the news release.