6C — May 27 - June 9, 2016 — Industrial / Distribution Centers — M id A tlantic
Real Estate Journal
www.marejournal.com
NAI CIR
By Robin Zellers, SIOR, NAI CIR Medical Marijuana and Pennsylvania Real Estate
A
fter years of stops and starts and count- less revisions and
Pennsylvania will be working diligently to prepare for the li- censing review process. A ma- jor component of the licensing preparation will be securing real estate to grow, process or dispense the product. The challenge in securing sites in Pennsylvania is based in the very nature of our land entitlement process. Zoning, defining permitted land uses and conditions, are enacted on a localized basis in PA. What may be permitted on one street in one municipality may be prohibited on an adjacent lot in a different municipality.
The effect on qualifying real estate will be impactful and interesting. In researching the impact of this industry in real estate with commercial real estate (“CRE”) professional peers across the country, it appears there will be very specific chal- lenges and opportunities in the Commonwealth. Growing and Processing The growing and process- ing operations are a pharma manufacturing process with an agricultural component. Without question there are municipalities who will wel-
come the new industry; its investment, increased tax base and employment opportuni- ties. In most cases, growing and processing will require clean industrial or flex type buildings. Growing may also be accomplished in specially constructed on-site greenhous- es. Facilities will be fenced and will require high levels of secu- rity. The newness of the indus- try coupled with historic per- spectives may challenge some approvals. We have already experienced rejection from a business park association for a growing and processing
continued on page 11C As single purpose retailers, the dispensaries will fit into smaller retail storefronts. Op- portunities will exist both in well located, accessible neigh- borhood shopping centers operation. The official denial was based upon a minor use variance request. However, the unofficial explanation was that there was an outright objection to the use and that the variance request was the vehicle for denial. Education, complete presentations and a thorough understanding of the new industry regulations and requirements will be key to securing local approvals for facility locations. A number of western states (Colorado, Oregon and Wash- ington, for example) have experienced a major impact on rentals in the smaller (less than 50,000 s/f) indus- trial market. In these mar- kets, rents for facilities used for growing/processing have increased dramatically. Land- lords have been requiring sub- stantial security deposits and, in some cases, advance rent- als to hedge against the risk (as yet unfounded) that the federal government may im- pact the states’ legalizations and impact the operation of the facilities. As the industry expands and matures, many experts believe this risk may mitigate. Dispensaries The dispensaries are re- quired to be staffed by a medi- cal professional - a pharmacist, or in some cases, a physician’s assistant or a registered nurse. Not dissimilar to a drugstore, or any retail outlet, locations will be selected for a combina- tion of convenience, access, visibility and traffic. Security, record keeping and product tracking in each retail location will be tightly controlled. The retail spaces will be a single purpose unit so visibility will be important. As dispensaries will be geographically diverse and a heavily licensed retail presence, this will require very strong coordination locally, regionally and statewide. NAI Global Pennsylvania members have experience covering the Commonwealth with a num- ber of national and statewide retailers. In this experience it becomes imperative for dis- pensary locations to be mapped and charted to ensure customer coverage across the state.
negotiations, Senate Bill 3 was signed into law by G o v e r n o r Wolf legaliz- ing medical marijuana in Pennsylva- nia. The De-
Robin Zellers
partment of Health is tasked with crafting the fine print and preparing for license ap- plications. Those interested in entering this new industry in
Now Available
Central Pennsylvania Industrial Properties
35-55 Springhouse Rd, Shippensburg, PA FOR LEASE Four suites in 83,498 SF warehouse Contact Daniel Alderman or Niko Kranias
36 Erick Road, Lancaster, PA FOR SALE 5.30 AC industrial land w/ three buildings Contact James D. Ross
240 Silver Spring Rd, Mechanicsburg, PA FOR SALE or LEASE 12,108 SF flex building w/ flexible layout Contact William Gladstone, CCIM, SIOR
820 E. Eagle Street, Lock Haven, PA FOR LEASE Upto 125,000 SF flexible warehouse space Contact Ida McMurray, CCIM, SIOR
1015 Mumma Road Lemoyne, PA 17043 717 761 5070 www.naicir.com
Made with FlippingBook HTML5