As Washington’s Liquor Control Board bulls its way toward licensing hundreds of marijuana growers and retailers, there is a “green rush” of real estate hunting. And its definitely a seller’s market.
One unnamed party recently paid a $50,000 premium — above the lease rate — for a storefront outside of Seattle. Greta Carter, a Seattle marijuana activist passed on the tip, said the leaser paid it because the location was a prime spot, albeit grudgingly. “We’re accustomed to paying a premium in the cannabis industry, but you cross a line when you want $50,000 up front,” she said.
And it’s only going to be worse as legalized marijuana stores authorized by Initiative 502 come on line. To give I-502 a better chance of passing, it included 1,000-foot exclusion zones around schools, parks, transit centers, even game arcades. That excludes most of Seattle, as well as good chunks for dense Pugetopolis. This map by Seattle Department of Planning and Zoning shows the I-502-friendly zones in yellow, and zones legal for medical marijuana dispensaries in blue. Other big cities, including Spokane, are working on similar maps.
Even if you find an urban, I-502-friendly sliver — notice that prime spot at 23rd Avenue and East Union Street on Capitol Hill? — finding landlords willing to talk to the marijuana industry shrinks options further. And if you’re real estate hunting for an I-502 storefront, you’ll need enough cash to tie up the parcel for a year or more; the Liquor Control Board is not expecting to issue marijuana retailer licenses until December, at the earliest.
But Tom Gordon, a real estate broker who specializes in the marijuana industry, said that hasn’t slowed interest. “There’s probably 10-12-15 people calling on the same property, people from out of town,” said Gordon, of I-5 Realty.
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