Maryland MMJ Industry Fires Up Real Estate Market

Marijuana entrepreneurs seeking cultivation licenses in Maryland have given the state’s industrial real estate market a lift over the past year.

Many applicants have already secured warehouses for grow sites and others are flooding real estate agents with calls about sites, according to the Baltimore Sun.

Of the roughly 1,080 license applications received by the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission, nearly 150 are for cultivation permits, although some companies submitted more than one. According to the Sun, many companies already rent space or have secured sites with options payments or other arrangements.

In the end, however, the state will issue 15 cultivation licenses, meaning that many cultivation companies that did not win a license will likely be left with property they cannot use.

A recent market report by JLL, a Chicago-based national commercial real estate firm, said that in 2015, the Baltimore region could surpass historic occupancy rates for industrial properties.

Marijuana companies will likely account for a small amount of the state’s industrial tenants, but their role is important because such businesses tend to opt for older industrial areas, a national real estate expert told the Sun.