The ganja gold rush is on, and a new brokerage firm is all set to cash in on the cannabis business boom, clearing the path for storefronts and warehouses making plans to bring pot to the people.
Not since the internet gave birth to new ventures across the industry spectrum has the marketplace been so ripe for new business blood.
Among those reaping the weed rewards is Cannabeta Realty, a Manhattan real estate brokerage firm that is the first in the New York and New Jersey area to focus on the unique needs of the cannabis industry.
Sure, anybody can just get their weed delivered, said Cannabeta founder Matte Namer. But someone has to harvest it, package it, market it and distribute it. And in most cases, you need space for that.
“Most other industries are shrinking in terms of retail,” Namer said. ”But in New York State alone, the legalization of marijuana created overnight the opportunity for an industry that’s going to reach $5 billion a year.”
It turns out the same holds true for cannabis businesses, with an addition: timing.
That means in a dense neighborhood like Greenwich Village — a center for the counterculture movement — up to 90% of the retail space is off-limits.
Navigating availability, Namer said, requires some expertise. He said it may make sense to start renting now, even though many businesses aren’t expected to open their doors for at least another year.
“At the end of the day you’re left with fewer choices,” Namer said.
The greedier landlords recognize this, and have tried to use that supply-and-demand equation to their advantage, Namer said. While it’s not out of the question for pot retail space to command an additional 10% to 15% in the rental marketplace, some landlords stick up tenants for an additional 40%, which leaves Namer asking: What have they been smoking?
Namer said he is trying to make money, too, but the business — the whole movement, really — is about more than profit, and why he said his firm is donating 10% of its profits to communities most harmed by the war on drugs.
With the sale of recreational marijuana expected to generate as much as $350 million a year in revenues for the state, all eyes are on New York, Namer said. Earlier this month, the state Senate confirmed two long-overdue appointments to the agency that will regulate state pot sales after Gov. Hochul ordered a special session to fast-track the program.
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