Former NBA professional Chris Webber is in the midst of building a cannabis training and operation facility in Detroit.
The NBA Hall of Famer and co-founder Lavetta Willis broke ground on Players Only Holdings last Tuesday. The Black-owned business will set a focal point around the cultivation of cannabis and real estate development. In addition, Players Only will also focus on creative content creation/management and brand collaborations.
The $50 million multi-purpose cannabis facility is being built within Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood. It’s completion will include a cannabis cultivation operation that takes up a third of the 180,000-square-foot Players Only facility and a full operating cannabis dispensary. The Players Only facility, also known as “Webber Wellness Compound,” will even have a private consumption lounge.
Image via @blackdetroiters on Instagram
Chris Webber Gives Back To Detroit
Chris Webber is a Detroit native who is providing more than just premium cannabis products to the people of the greater Detroit area. He is stimulating its economy and creating more reasons for tourism in the city. By the time they complete the Players Only facility, Webber and Willis hope to provide hundreds of jobs over the next three years.
When the facility is completed, it will be sitting on nine acres near the Detroit River providing the people in Detroit some of the best products and services in Michigan’s legal cannabis industry.
During the ceremony last week, the former Fab 5 member announced the partnership with Gage Growth Corp. The plan is to have Gage Growth Corp handle distribution for Players Only branded goods.
Cookies U Michigan
Webber saw more opportunity for improving and lifting up the people of Michigan who have been marginalized. Partnered with Cookies founder Berner, the WebberWildWillis Foundation established the Detroit expansion of the cannabis training program called Cookies U. The WWW Foundation is a nonprofit organization that seeks to improve and facilitate the Black and Brown communities negatively impacted by the War on Drugs.
Chris Webber said this about his facility in Detroit:
“This Detroit training and operations facility is only the first step in bringing tangible opportunities to the people of this city—one that means so much to me—while eliminating barriers to an industry with unlimited economic potential.”
He continues, “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. 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.”
This shows Webber’s further investment in Detroit. He’s doing more than creating job opportunities for the people. He is also creating an educational path for applying cannabis knowledge from Cookies U to successful careers in the industry.
After the first phase of the construction in March 2022, a $125 million second phase will go into action. It will expand the cultivation facility by another 80,000 square feet. This is something Chris Webber is calling his “biggest priority in life.”
Webber isn’t the first big-name to join the cannabis industry in Michigan. He joins guys like Megatron and Tee Grizzley who give back to the people of Detroit and Michigan through cannabis.
