Many people may think that the desert of southern California is not the ideal place for a high-quality cannabis production facility. Green Horizons’ location in Coachella, California is a key part of their plan to succeed in the Golden State’s highly competitive cannabis market. The company is targeting 2025, a crucial time for its evolution and growth, by combining the expertise of Carlos “Los Arias”, the fashion prowess and marketing skills of Tommy Hilfiger, and the real-estate and construction knowledge of Michael Meade.
Green Horizons’s CEO Arias has a law degree and is one of many pioneers in regulated cannabis. He was one of Colorado River Rock’s principals and helped to create the retail and cannabis infrastructure in Denver after legalization.
Arias set his sights on California and established a cannabis-growing facility of 18,000 square feet near Palm Springs, in Cathedral City. Mutual connections led him to Meade who wanted to turn Coachella, California into the “Napa Valley of the South” with marijuana instead of wine.
Meade was convinced that the Coachella Valley’s agricultural past, dating back to more than 100 years ago, could be revived with cannabis. He worked with the leaders of Coachella to establish a cannabis cultivation zone, and made improvements such as installing sewer and power lines. Meade secured a tax rate of two percent for Green Horizons’ planned operation as a reward for spearheading a local marijuana industry. This gave Green Horizons an important competitive advantage in California’s regulated cannabis market. Meade and Arias teamed up to build a cannabis cultivation facility in Coachella after the development was approved. Green Horizons’ facility for mixed-light cultivating cannabis combines desert sunlight with modern lighting, making it, according to reports more efficient and environmentally friendly than indoor operations.
Arias, of Green Horizons, says the company is “unafraid about the power the sun.” He notes that it is a misconception that marijuana grown indoors in energy-intensive facilities that uses mixed light is superior to cannabis that is grown outdoors. Arias states that “we diametrically oppose that” and that they want to take a route that is more Earth-friendly.
Green Horizons uses far less energy than traditional indoor operations because the sun helps to light the cannabis plants. This makes the facility more environmentally friendly. In addition, the cultivation operation does not use any air conditioning. They rely instead on evaporative coolant, which is a much more energy-efficient way to keep the plants protected from desert heat. Coachella is also saving money compared with its competitors because it has a connection to Imperial Irrigation District’s power grid. This source provides electricity for rates 30-40% lower than Southern California Edison.
Green Horizons’ facility is able to access water reliably from the Colorado River, thanks to infrastructure designed for Coachella Valley agriculture. The company can also choose to use irrigation water from a well located on site.
The construction of the 100,000-square-foot portion of the 1,000,000-square-foot project began in 2022. Two years later, the ribbon cutting ceremony was held in May 2024. The facility has been in operation since then. Its first harvest was harvested last November. The harvests of the first four months produced about 3,000 lbs, sold either in bulk to California-licensed cannabis brands or under white label. Arias said the facility was on track to triple its production by the summer of 2025. The first phase is expected to produce 35,000 pounds per year of high-quality cannabis.
Green Horizons will now develop its SOL brand (which means sun in Spanish). Arias claims it is an “homage to Coachella Valley roots.” Meade, who specializes in real estate and Arias in cannabis cultivation decided to hire an expert for brand development.
Arias said, “We have the skills to construct buildings.” Michael Meade is an expert at building buildings. My roots in cultivation, regulated markets and the cannabis industry go back to 2012. I started in Colorado. “What we really needed was a brand-building component.”
Green Horizons’ executives sought out the expertise of fashion designer and entrepreneur Tommy Hilfiger. Hilfiger became an investor and founding partner in Green Horizons. Arias claims he first met Ally Hilfiger through the community of plant medicine. Meade, Arias, and Ally are all cancer survivors. Ally was diagnosed with Lyme at the age of 19 and has been battling symptoms ever since. Cannabis changed her life. Arias claims that he became good friends with Ally after they exchanged stories.
Tommy Hilfiger has a goal with Green Horizons to bring SOL products to the market. Also, the company bought a stake in Boast – an apparel and lifestyle label now owned by Hilfiger as well as Green Horizons. Hilfiger, starting with the two existing brands will chart a course for Green Horizons to produce its own consumer packaged products. Arias says that, “of course, that doesn’t just happen over night.” We feel more comfortable doing it later on, with someone like Arias.
Ally, as Green Horizons chief advocate officer is intimately involved. She says that in this position, she will work to de-stigmatize cannabis and bring about meaningful federal policy reform.