 |
| Oh happy day! |
Since recreational marijuana became legalized in Colorado, hordes of
new residents have relocated to the Centennial State, and in Denver alone, more
than 4.5 million square feet of space has been dedicated for commercial
cultivation facilities, storage and distribution, and retail shops. Talk about your
Mile High City - that’s over 78 football fields for you Bronco fans!
Commercial and residential purchasers in Colorado urban areas are
scrambling to find new locations, something that is much easier said than done
with the restrictions in place for local zoning ordinances. Prices have already
zoomed for both residential and commercial real estate, and commercial real
estate, in particular, is in short demand.
As a consequence of that shortage, the Las Vegas real estate market is already
seeing the early stages of a new boom driven by cannabis consumers. Even though
medical marijuana applications have a temporary moratorium in place, experts in
the industry expect to have recreational marijuana legalized by 2016 at the
latest. After seeing what happened in Colorado, investors are already staking
their claim to prime locations in Las Vegas. (In order to accommodate these
investors more efficiently, we are already developing our new web site for Las Vegas Marijuana Real Estate. Updates
to current zoning regulations should be posted by the beginning of April.)
We have gotten numerous calls from national name brand companies that
are diversifying their portfolios into what looks to be a highly lucrative new “field.”
(Sorry for all the bad puns, but I can’t seem to help myself!) Quite a number have
already tied up commercial warehouse space in Clark County for future
cultivation facilities.
But don’t expect to see a boatload of marijuana dispensaries along Las
Vegas Boulevard. Though the Strip and downtown Fremont Street would seem
logical spots for retail pot shops, marijuana sales are prohibited in any of
the gaming corridors, in addition to the normal zoning restrictions about being
close to churches or schools.
Another more subjective concern is that local authorities do not want
to bring potential crime into what are now low crime areas. That means you
won’t be seeing a retail shop near Summerlin homes or close to Anthem
Country Club any time soon, even once both medical marijuana and
recreational marijuana are legalized. You’ll probably have to drive a bit to get
to your favorite dispensary.
And individual homeowner’s associations may/will prohibit growing
marijuana crops in private homes. If you want “room to grow” you may need to
look for a house outside of an HOA. It actually might not be a bad idea to
start looking right now for a potential grow home. We expect to see a residential
population shift to the unincorporated areas of Clark County once recreational
MJ is legalized, which will drive up prices in the non HOA communities. You don’t
want to be priced out of that market and have your dreams go “up in smoke.”
