The city-parish has issued a commercial remodel permit for GB Sciences Louisiana to turn a former Pepsi distribution center in south Baton Rouge in a facility for growing medical marijuana.
The permit was issued Thursday, permitting the company to renovate roughly 35,869-square-feet space at 18350 Petroleum Drive in the Highland Business Park for plant cultivation. The renovations are expected to cost some $6 million, according to the permit. Â
Cangelosi Ward is the general contractor. Bill Settoon, the vice president and general manager of GB Sciences Louisiana, previously told Daily Report that work that doesn’t require permits has already taken place at the location. Settoon could not be reached before this morning’s deadline for an update on the renovations.
The LSU AgCenter selected GB Sciences Louisiana, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Nevada-based GB Sciences, to be the operator of its medical marijuana operation. LSU and Southern University are the state’s only two licensed growers.
GB Sciences signed a lease for the building, located near the Highland Road exit of Interstate 10, in August. The company is paying $25,588 a month for the first five-year term, and will eventually pay up to $30,966 a month if the lease is renewed.
On Thursday, GB Sciences announced the appointment of attorney John B. Davis as president of GB Sciences Louisiana LLC. Davis joins GB Sciences from the law firm of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz.
Also on Thursday, the Louisiana House voted 60-39 to add more conditions to the list of diseases and disorders eligible for medical marijuana, The Associated Press reports.
House Bill 579, by Baton Rouge Rep. Ted James, would include glaucoma, severe muscle spasms, intractable pain, post-traumatic stress disorder and Parkinson’s disease to the list.
A separate measure by Harvey Rep. Rodney Lyons that won earlier House passage would allow medicinal-grade pot for autism spectrum disorder.
Both proposals await Senate debate.
