Aether Gardens | Las Vegas, NV

Catalyst BC provided end-to-end cannabis strategy consulting, moving beyond simple advisory to serve as an embedded partner across every phase of the asset’s development. Our work focused on maximizing unit economics and ensuring exit readiness through technical and financial rigor.

Ground-Up Design & Master Planning

We led the cultivation facility master planning phase, establishing a technical foundation designed for long-term scalability.

• Engineering Standards: Developed the Basis of Design (BOD) and Owner’s Project Requirements (OPR) to define all engineering assumptions and performance targets.
• Utility Strategy: Conducted precise utility demand forecasting to ensure the electrical and mechanical infrastructure could support high-density vertical farming systems.
• Workflow Optimization: Designed the extraction facility layout and cultivation zones using workflow efficiency modeling to minimize labor costs and prevent post-harvest bottlenecks.

Construction Oversight & Capital Project Controls

During the build phase, Catalyst BC provided engineering oversight and owner’s rep services to protect the client’s capital investment.

• Cost Governance: Implemented capital project controls and change order management to keep the project on schedule and within budget.
• Technical Reviews: Performed regular constructability reviews and verified as-built documentation to ensure the physical facility matched the design intent.

Commissioning & System Qualification

Before the facility became operational, we executed a rigorous commissioning and qualification (IQ OQ PQ) protocol.

• Environmental Integrity: Conducted psychrometric analysis to verify that HVACD systems met latent capacity sizing requirements for high-transpiration environments.
• Climate Stability: Established a climate stability index to ensure the facility could maintain precise environmental setpoint strategies without environmental drift.

Operational Management & Performance Benchmarking

Once live, Catalyst BC provided operational overwatch, managing the facility to institutional standards.

• Yield Optimization: Utilized crop steering strategies and environmental data analytics to maximize yield per square foot.
• Data Integrity: Established a data governance framework to ensure operational data integrity across METRC reconciliation audits and standard cost modeling.
• Compliance Rigor: Maintained an operational compliance framework that ensured constant inspection readiness and license maintenance compliance.

Value Creation & Exit Strategy

The engagement culminated in an exit readiness consulting phase, preparing the asset for a successful transition.

• Financial Stabilization: Focused on EBITDA improvement strategies by identifying cost structure optimization opportunities and improving throughput per labor hour.
• Valuation Support: Delivered a comprehensive value creation plan that utilized SKU performance analysis and unit economics to demonstrate the asset’s superior profitability to potential acquirers.