A medical cannabis processing facility and two dispensaries are closing in Pittsburgh and Erie, leaving at least 76 people out of work amid lawsuits and allegations of unpaid rent and financial turmoil.
Goodblend Pennsylvania LLC will close its sprawling medical cannabis grow facility in Pittsburgh’s Chateau neighborhood in September, along with medical cannabis dispensaries in Friendship and Erie, according to Sam Schwartz, vice president of public affairs and corporate impact at Parallel, Goodblend’s corporate parent in Atlanta.
“In connection with a strategic review, we have made the decision to withdraw from the Pennsylvania market in order to serve patients in our other, more established markets, where so many patients and customers rely on us for their cannabis products,” he said in a prepared statement Tuesday. “As such, Parallel/Goodblend is working with regulators to establish and execute a closure plan over the next 60 days.”
Goodblend Pennsylvania LLC notified the state that it will end operations on September 15 at a 342,810-square-foot site on Beaver Avenue that houses a medical cannabis cultivation and processing facility, putting 76 people out of work. The closure is scheduled nine days after Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas Judge Christine A. Ward is scheduled to hear arguments on a motion to set a trial date for Goodblend’s alleged failure to meet the terms of its lease.
Goodblend signed a 20-year lease for the Beaver Avenue site in May 2021. A three-count civil lawsuit filed in February by San Diego-based IIP-PA 8 LLC, the building owner, and landlord, alleged that Goodblend defaulted on the lease in November 2022 and has accrued $5.8 million in unpaid rent and other fees, the complaint said.
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