American Green Inc., one of the first publicly traded technology companies in the marijuana industry on the OTC market exchanges, announced the purchase of the 100-year-old, 120-acre town of Nipton, Calif., on Aug. 3 for $5 million with plans to make it the country’s “first energy-independent, cannabis-friendly hospitality destination,” according to a company press release.
Mike Rosati, American Green’s director of marketing, said in an interview with Cannabis Business Times that although the deal is not quite final, they are hoping it will be completed in the next two to six weeks.
American Green aims to preserve the town’s historic look and value while turning Nipton into a hub for cannabis cultivation and the production of cannabis-based products, per the company’s press release. The company’s initial focus will be bottling CBD-infused water from a nearby aquifer, with plans to distribute throughout California. American Green is currently having discussions with several edibles and extraction companies that have shown interest in having production facilities in Nipton, according to the release, and when the project is fully finished, Nipton will feature CBD and mineral baths, artists-in-residence programs, culinary events, bed-and-breakfast lodging, marijuana retail outlets and more.
“We have the concept, but we’re not restauranteurs, and we’re not an edible company, so we have partners to handle the various aspects like hospitality and entertainment,” Rosati said.
The town will be powered entirely by renewable energy, and company officials hope Nipton will help create jobs and development within not just the town, but also surrounding communities. American Green will expand a nearby solar farm and upgrade the town’s water aquifer and water delivery systems, making Nipton an energy-independent town.
Rosati said American Green’s idea for a cannabis-friendly tourist destination originated last fall, when one of the company’s officials spoke with someone about another opportunity in a different region.
“They liked the idea of being able to control or set up a cannabis-friendly environment, rather than just thinking about each of the areas, such as a grow or a dispensary,” Rosati said. “[They liked] just rolling it all together and having a nice destination that offered all of that.”
And buying an entire town, while not always easy, is not completely unheard of, as one might think. The town was put up for sale last year by the late Gerald Freeman and his wife Roxanne Lang when Freeman started having health problems, and negotiations for American Green’s purchase of Nipton took more than four months, The Washington Post reported.
“What we’re doing in the town in terms of upgrading, infrastructure, solar, the water, all that, those will be the things we tackle first, and then [we’re] not quite sure of the timeline on that, but we are looking at perhaps a soft launch in October …,” Rosati said. “We’re not going to have a grow or a dispensary or any of that really big stuff in place right away, but at least we’ll have the town a little bit American Green-ized, as it were.”
Nipton is near the Nevada border, just minutes from Interstate 15 and positioned on a railway line that connects the town to Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Salt Lake City, according to the press release. Nipton’s history consists of gold and silver mining and ranching, per CNN.
Rosati said the town has a fluctuating population between about six and 20 residents, with some people living there seasonally or just passing through the town’s RV park.
Nipton’s businesses include a store, a restaurant, an original schoolhouse that has been converted into a community center called Freeman Hall, and a hotel (pictured below), which Rosati said is in excellent condition, despite being original to the town.
“It’s 100-plus years old, made of adobe and has five rooms with baths at the end of the hall,” he said. “[It’s] very clean, kind of southwest flare, kind of kitchy, kind of fun.”
Rosati said American Green plans to use Freeman Hall for cannabis-related events such as cooking courses, infusing sessions, yoga and meditation experiences, and more.
“It’s a nice place to gather and group,” he said.
Rosati also indicated that American Green may explore hosting canna-chefs at the town’s restaurant to offer infusions, food pairings with cannabis and educational discussions, in addition to the regular fare.
Rosati said Nipton also features a rock garden with cacti that guests can explore, as well as surrounding areas for hiking in the Mohave and a nearby turtle sanctuary.
He described the town as having a Western feel that they may expand on as they build out more infrastructure.
“They put some rail cars in and covered them with siding to make them look like buildings, kind of a façade,” Rosati said.
“… [Nipton is] really beautiful,” Rosati said. “It’s peaceful. The train does roll through, but that’s kind of fun. It goes right by the property, and it’s kind of neat to hear the horn and the roar of the wheels on the track. You’re out in the country. You can see the stars. There’s no light pollution [or] sound pollution. It’s just really peaceful. There’s the potential for just getting away.”
American Green hopes to make the area a model for how other struggling towns can reinvent themselves, the press release says.
“We look to replicate the model or provide the spark for others who may want to do something similar, generating a community where you can enjoy cannabis responsibly,” Rosati said. “Locally, we want to impact the community in a positive way with tax revenue and job creation. It’s a rather sleepy corner of the world.”
Images courtesy of American Green.
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