Bellmawr

Curaleaf, the largest alternative treatment center in the state, quietly added another building to its Bellmawr campus this summer. Last week the company announced plans to open a second dispensary in Bordentown while continuing to whole sell product to other alternative treatment centers around the state.

The cannabis giant has 93 dispensaries in nearly two dozen states. Last week, the four-building South Jersey campus bustled with patients waiting in their cars, packing the parking lot and lining up along the roadside.

Melillo noted that the average customer in the Bellmawr location is over 50 years old and is a patient in the MMP program for one or more qualifying condition, mostly pain and sleep-related issues, which are interconnected.

No vote was taken on Thursday night. Discussion will resume at the September 10 meeting of the Planning Board at 7pm. Members of the public will be able to attend and participate via teleconference on the Zoom platform.

Curaleaf will submit any amended plans to the Township’s Community Development Office on or before August 31.

A medical marijuana dispensary could be coming to Route 73, and will be reviewed by the zoning board next week.

Among the factors the zoning board will consider is the dispensary’s proposed location.

Curaleaf’s facility at 1315 Route 73 would sit about 800 feet from a residential area surrounding Amberfield Drive and about 950 feet from Just Children Child Care, a daycare center at 14000 Commerce Parkway, according to the company.

Township regulations state a requirement of at least 1,000 feet from residential communities, schools, churches and day cares.

Innovative Industrial Properties, Inc. (IIP), the first and only real estate company on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: IIPR) focused on the regulated U.S. cannabis industry, announced today that it closed on the acquisition of a property in Blue Anchor, New Jersey, which comprises approximately 111,000 square feet of industrial space.

The requests date from last summer, when New Jersey decided to grant an additional 24 medical cannabis business licenses. That was a much lower number than anticipated -- previously, state officials had pledged to award 108 new permits.

New Jersey legalized medical cannabis, albeit with a number of restrictions, in 2010. It does not currently allow recreational use; recent efforts to do so have stalled, although a referendum on the matter will be on state ballots in November's election cycle.

In a sale-leaseback deal that shows the value of cannabis-related properties on the East Coast, a newly formed real estate firm has agreed to acquire six buildings in New Jersey, Florida and Massachusetts for $28.3 million from Curaleaf Holdings.

Freehold Properties, based in Las Vegas, is set to pay Wakefield, Massachusetts-based Curaleaf $25.5 million in cash and roughly $2.8 million of its common stock in the transaction. The deal was slated to close by the end of August, but both Freehold and Curaleaf could not be reached for comment.

A handful of companies are poised to benefit from New Jersey's limited amount of approved licenses. One of those is Acreage Holdings (ACRG.U). Back in May, Acreage signed a letter of intent to enter into a long-term management contract to assist with the expansion and operations of Compassionate Care Foundation, Inc. (CCF) , a not-for-profit entity that operates a dispensary and cultivation facility in Egg Harbor, New Jersey.

To meet the rising demand for state-approved cannabis, the state Department of Health is reviewing 146 applications for six licenses by Nov. 1, including 51 applications vying for two licenses that will be granted in South Jersey. Four of the state's existing medical marijuana facilities, known as Alternative Treatment Centers, are also requesting state approval to add satellite locations.