SAN
DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE) PRESS RELEASE -- Innovative
Industrial Properties, Inc. (IIP), the first and only real estate company on
the New York Stock Exchange focused on the regulated U.S. cannabis
industry, announced today that it closed on the acquisition of a property in
Lansing, Michigan, which comprises approximately 145,000 square feet of
industrial space.
The
purchase price for the Michigan property was approximately $4.8 million
(excluding transaction costs). Concurrent with the closing of the purchase, IIP
entered into a long-term, triple-net lease agreement with a subsidiary of
Ascend Wellness Holdings, LLC (AWH), which intends to operate the property as a
licensed medical-use cannabis cultivation and processing facility upon
completion of redevelopment. AWH is expected to complete tenant improvements
for the building, for which IIP has agreed to provide reimbursement of up to
$15.0 million. Assuming full reimbursement for the tenant improvements, IIP’s
total investment in the property will be approximately $19.8 million.
This
Michigan property represents IIP’s second real estate transaction with AWH. In
December 2018, IIP acquired a 75,000-square-foot industrial facility in
Illinois and entered into a long-term, triple-net lease agreement with AWH for
use as a medical cannabis cultivation and processing facility, with IIP’s total
investment in the property, assuming full reimbursement for tenant
improvements, expected to be $25.0 million.
As
the pioneering real estate investment trust (REIT) for the medical-use cannabis
industry, IIP partners with experienced medical-use cannabis operators and
serves as a source of capital by acquiring and leasing back their real estate
assets, in addition to offering other creative real estate-based capital
solutions.
“We
are excited to team up with AWH again as their long-term real estate partner in
Michigan,” said Paul Smithers, President and Chief Executive Officer of IIP.
“AWH is very well-positioned, with a strong management team and balance sheet,
as it ramps up its operations in Massachusetts, Illinois, Michigan and Ohio,
each of which presents a tremendous market opportunity. We look forward to
supporting their continued growth and success for many years to come.”
AWH
is a vertically integrated cannabis company, and expects to be operating in
each of Massachusetts, Illinois, Michigan and Ohio by the end of this year. AWH
has raised over $100 million in capital to date.
“The
IIP team has been a great real estate partner and key capital source to fund
our multi-state expansion initiatives,” said Abner Kurtin, Chief Executive
Officer and Co-Founder of AWH. “We are thrilled to begin our redevelopment of
the Michigan property, and to bring our highest-quality medical cannabis
products and customer-focus to meet the tremendous patient demand in Michigan.”
As
of July 9, 2019, IIP owned 23 properties located in Arizona, California,
Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York,
Ohio and Pennsylvania, totaling approximately 1.8 million rentable square feet
(including approximately 466,000 rentable square feet under
development/redevelopment), which were 100% leased with a weighted-average
remaining lease term of approximately 15.6 years. As of July 9, 2019, IIP had
invested approximately $234.5 million in the aggregate (excluding transaction
costs) and had committed an additional approximately $72.0 million to reimburse
certain tenants and sellers for completion of construction and tenant
improvements at IIP’s properties. IIP’s average current yield on invested capital
is approximately 14.7% for these 23 properties, calculated as (a) the sum of
the current base rents, supplemental rent (with respect to the lease with
PharmaCann LLC at one of IIP’s New York properties) and property management
fees (after the expiration of applicable base rent abatement or deferral
periods), divided by (b) IIP’s aggregate investment in these properties
(excluding transaction costs and including aggregate potential
development/redevelopment funding and tenant reimbursements of approximately
$72.0 million).
