Real estate developer and Hudson Regional Hospital (HRH) owner Yan Moshe was approved by the NJ Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA) to open a cannabis cultivation facility in the old Channel 9 building in Secaucus in North Jersey.
Table of Contents
HRH Operations Director Dr. Nazar Burak applied on their behalf. HRH Board member Adam Alonoso, who worked for former Governor Phil Murphy *, appeared before the NJSEA on their behalf.
According to *Patch, the NJSEA approved their application at their November 2025 meeting.
“Mr. Moshe looks forward to … revitalize 43 Meadowlands Parkway, a blighted building that has sat vacant for several years. This facility would create jobs at a local business, as well as generate significant revenue for the Town of Secaucus to reinvest in the community, all without any adverse impacts on local residents,” his spokesman argued in an email.
“…Moshe looks forward to continuing to collaborate with the Town of Secaucus on this project, as well as other quality-of-life initiatives…,” he added.
The company is known as “43 Meadowlands Holdings LLC/NJ Highlands, LLC.” They want a vertical grow facility where plants are stacked on shelves.
The place has 129,786 square feet according to their application.
Secaucus Real Estate and Weed Deals
The NJSEA allowed them to engage in “light industrial use” at the former Channel 9 building.
WWOR used to run UPN from there. The Channel was changed, and they moved to New York City.
The NJSEA has jurisdiction since it absorbed the commission that protected the nearby Meadowlands.
Hartz Mountain Industries built the complex, including an apartment building next door. Their lawyers complained about the idea of them selling cannabis and the smell.
An aroma to some is an odor to others.
If it’s just a grow site, there won’t be sales there, unless they’re approved for a dispensary license at that same location.
The NJSEA approved it in a unanimous 15-0 vote.
New Jersey Highlands LLC pestered the NJ Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC) for a while to be a clinical registrant.* They threatened to take them to court. It was ultimately approved 4-1 with former Commissioner Charles Barker voting no in August 2022.
There haven’t been many New Jersey clinical registrants thus far.
Several hospitals get a lot of money from the federal government, which is against marijuana. So, because they don’t want to lose federal money, they don’t like weed.
In January 2024 * the law was changed to allow NJ Democratic Vice Chair Peg Schaffer to both serve on the NJSEA and have cannabis law firm clients.
Hospital Hustles
Their application still needs the Secaucus Cannabis Control Board’s approval. The board includes Secaucus Police Chief Dennis Miller, Town Administrator Gary Jeffas, and Town Attorney Julia Peschetti.
*Jeffas said the town had no objection to the TV station becoming a massive legal weed grow at a meeting.
The same owners have owned HRH and the site for a while.
Patch reported in 2023 that the building was purchased by Moshe. He runs HRH, which owns the Secaucus hospital, the hospitals in Hoboken, Bayonne, and the old Christ Hospital in the Jersey City Heights in the north of the city.*
They shut down many of the services of the old Christ Hospital in Jersey City after promising they would not. The near closing provoked outrage at City Council meetings.
Moshe’s spokesman defended his record.
“Hudson Regional Health Chairman Yan Moshe is proud to have a strong record of delivering for the Secaucus community, having led the transformational turnaround of the failing Meadowlands Hospital … following tens of millions of dollars of investments into the facility,” his spokesman claimed.
He also claimed that they have “strengthened the health care system in Hudson County, with over $300 million invested into the former CarePoint facilities, with HRH now the largest healthcare provider in Hudson County.”
With its previously shaky finances, President Donald Trump’s cuts to medical care were likely severely impactful.
Sources say the previous owners were even worse.
Harmony Dispensary Monkey Business in Secaucus
Former NJ Cannabis Trade Association President Shaya Brodchandel previously operated Harmony Dispensary in Secaucus.
It was the 6th NJ medical cannabis dispensary approved by the Department of Health in their initial batch of six approvals.*
They had planned to open dispensaries in Jersey City and Hoboken. However, they never did.
After SB was ousted amidst scandal, they were brought before the Hoboken Cannabis Board and lost their license. Business Administrator Jason Freeman was angry that they’d been unresponsive when many wanted to know the status of their downtown location.
Ultimately, the Harmony Dispensary in Secaucus closed by November 2023.
Illicit Gardens of Missouri got the license from Harmony and ultimately opened a dispensary in another location.
