The former Gibraltar Trade Center -- known for its larger-than-life billboard on Interstate 94 in Mount Clemens -- will soon have a second life as a marijuana grow facility.

The nearly 300,000-square-foot trade center at 237 N. River Road closed in 2017. It was purchased that year by James George, a local developer and businessman, through his company Hidden Ridge Investments LLC.

This June the city of Mount Clemens granted local licenses for growing and processing medical marijuana at the Gibraltar site, Mayor Barb Dempsey told The Detroit Free Press.

George plans to invest $15 million in the project, including adding ventilation and lighting to the existing facility and building a second structure, according to The Macomb Daily.

Michigan’s medical marijuana industry has been exploding recently, as businesses are trying to secure a foothold before the recreational market launches later this year.

It is bringing life to many empty, vacant spaces across the state -- like the Gibraltar site in Mount Clemens. In Muskegon, a former trucking depot is now a medical marijuana provisioning center. And in Chesaning, a vacant meat packing plant has been turned into a medical marijuana grow and processing facility.

-- Amy Biolchini is the marijuana beat reporter for MLive. Contact her with questions, tips or comments at abiolch1@mlive.com. Read more from MLive about medical and recreational marijuana.