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Touting London’s proximity to highways and its large labour pool, a pot producer has bought up a greenhouse on a sprawling property in the city’s south end.

Hamilton-based Beleave Kannabis Inc. paid $6.7 million for 250,000 square feet of greenhouse space and 34 hectares of land on Wellington Road, where it plans to grow marijuana for the medical and recreational market, says the company, which used a combination of cash, shares and financing to fund the deal.

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Beleave didn’t disclose the location of the property, but The Free Press has learned it’s the property housing the Heritage Garden Gallery, a family-run operation that has been in business since 1988.

Heritage owner Grace Boekestyn said she and her husband listed the business two years ago, hoping a flower-growing operation or garden centre would buy it, but they didn’t get any offers until Beleave contacted them.

“To us, it was the right opportunity because we couldn’t foresee selling it as the business we were running,” she said. “We are very thankful for all the people who have patronized our business and all our loyal customers.”

Beleave will bring the existing greenhouse into operation in two phases before building two more on the property, where the company will also explore outdoor growing, said Grant McLeod, Beleave’s senior vice-president of regulatory affairs and general counsel.

“We have a number of options on the property,” McLeod said. “What it really does is give us the flexibility to address all the available grow options under the new legislation.”

McLeod highlighted the property’s competitive advantages, including access to London’s labour pool, abundant hydro power, low-cost natural gas and proximity to major highways for shipping and receiving.

“The zoning is already intact,” he added. “This allows us to speed up the process a little bit . . . and it also allows us to use the infrastructure that’s in place and potentially cut down our time lines as well.”

Canadian cannabis companies have been busy buying property, greenhouses and shuttered factories ahead of Oct. 17, when recreational marijuana becomes legal.