By Donna Kardos Yesalavich | The Wall Street Journa
Some real estate firms are capitalizing on the difficulties legal marijuana entrepreneurs face when trying to find space by specializing in the buying and leasing of properties where the drug can be produced.
Last week, two such firms announced marijuana-focused property purchases in Colorado and Arizona, two of the 20 states and the District of Columbia that have legalized medical-marijuana distribution. Colorado is also the first state where recreational marijuana is being legally distributed under state law; Washington state will follow soon.
Zoned Properties Inc., a recently formed real-estate investment company that will lease land, facilities and equipment to medical-marijuana businesses in Arizona, acquired a multitenant light industrial park in Tempe, Ariz., for $4.6 million. It includes 83,000 square feet of warehouse space on a 5-acre complex. This is only its second acquisition. Last month, it bought an approved site for a medical-marijuana dispensary in Gilbert, Ariz., for $1.1 million.
