AgriFORCE to Jointly Develop 34-Acre Coachella Campus for New CEA Facilities
AgriFORCE Growing Systems Ltd., an intellectual property (IP)-focused AgTech company dedicated to advancing sustainable cultivation and crop optimization across multiple platforms, has announced it has entered into a three-way agreement with Stronghold Power Systems Inc. (SPSI) and Stronghold Engineering Inc. (SEI), whereby AgriFORCE will acquire and the Parties will jointly develop a 34-acre property, which will serve as the first Coachella Campus for AgriFORCE’s proprietary and state-of-the-art controlled environment agriculture (CEA) facilities.
The agreement represents a collaboration between AgriFORCE, SEI and SPSI, in the City of Coachella. SPSI is a subsidiary/division of SEI, a California-based, nationally renowned design and construction firm. SEI has been nominated as the general contractor for the project. The property is strategically located with access to power that will be provided by SPSI, as well as distribution networks supported by the City of Coachella.
At full operational optimization, each new facility is expected to generate in excess of $40 million of annualized, high-margin IP royalty and leasing fees to the company. The purchase price for the land is $2.8 million of AgriFORCE common stock and $1.5 million of cash at the time of property transfer, which is expected during the first quarter of 2023. Additionally, according to the terms of the purchase agreement, infrastructure costs are to be principally born by SEI, which upon completion is expected to enhance the value of the AgriFORCE property. Through this property agreement, AgriFORCE estimates it will reduce the capital expenditures for the first site by $4.8 million in Phase 1 of the development. The Parties expect to finance the balance of construction through project financing, based on long-term customer agreements.
The campus will include cultivation facilities, featuring advanced facility design, automated integrated growing systems, and advanced environmental control systems, leveraging the company’s broad IP-based AgTech platform. These facilities are designed to utilize less resources than traditional CEA facilities, such as water and electricity, as well as deliver optimized crops for the benefit of customers.
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Troy McClellan, President of AgriFORCE Solutions, stated “AgriFORCE is thrilled to collaborate with Stronghold Engineering and Stronghold Power Systems to acquire this strategic property to develop our Coachella Campus. This collaboration enables us to advance deployment of our proprietary IP to deliver cutting edge agricultural facilities and operating procedures, allowing the production of better crops. We believe that once completed, this development will bring enhanced agriculture, job opportunities, as well as community engagement activities, illustrating our commitment to positively transform farm, food, and family every day, everywhere.”
Scott Bailey, Founder of Stronghold Power Systems, Inc. and COO of Stronghold Engineering, Inc. shared, “The team at Stronghold Power Systems is excited to be involved with this project. We have been working with AgriFORCE for approximately four years now and it’s great to see this come to fruition. It is a culmination of many hours of hard work by all of our companies and stakeholders to bring a world class research and development center to the Coachella Valley, focused on new agricultural grow technologies. We are proud to be in this alliance with AgriFORCE, as we support their mission to making positive changes in the world through sustainability and improving agriculture for our future.”
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