In early 2018, CORDOS began site development of NuSierra’s 14-acre cultivation site nestled high in the grazing hills outside San Vicente, Antioquia, Colombia. With moderate temperatures and an equatorial 12 hours of day and night year-round, Colombia provides a perfect climate to cultivate cannabis flower.

In February, CORDOS began working with local engineers to shape the steep terrain, on a balanced cut and fill, into 5 usable acres of open-air greenhouses for mother, clone, veg, and flower; an irrigation reservoir; perimeter and through vehicular circulation; and new structures for on-site drying and curing, agri-storage, employee facilities, administration offices, and security systems. With site access restricted to treacherously narrow dirt roads, the difficult site grading was completed with small excavators and dozers over 15 months.

While work on NuSierra’s San Vicente cultivation site progressed, CORDOS began work on a new extraction facility: a build-out of a one-story metal shop located minutes from Medellin’s international airport in Rionegro.

CORDOS coordinated with a local A/E for the design, which included inserting a second story addition within the high space to accommodate the 20,000 square foot program. CORDOS worked with a specialty structural engineer to design the second floor to bear on the existing 20-inch-thick slab with columns and beams entirely independent of the existing concrete frame exterior masonry walls.

CORDOS imported US building technology for this GMP facility. Instead of plastered masonry partitions typical in Colombia, CORDOS worked with local trades and suppliers to utilize metal studs and moisture-resistant drywall partitions. CORDOS also purchased hollow metal doors and frames, security door hardware, and GMP-grade FRP panels from the US, air-freighted to the nearby airport through Miami.