NEWS
BY MOHAMMED ALKHADHER
CANNABIS CHANGES
THE GAME OF REAL ESTATE
L
ocal businesses worry the cannanbis industry is edging
them out.
While Oregon may still be the new kid on the legal-
ization block, the two states that beat us to the punch,
Washington and Colorado, might have a lesson or two to
teach us about what’s to come.
There’s no doubt that states have benefited financially from
taxing the recently legalized industry and are looking at dra-
matic declines in crime rates, according to a 2015 study by the
Drug Policy Alliance.
Oregon’s Department of Revenue started collecting taxes on
recreational cannabis for the first time beginning Feb. 1, and by
March 4 the state had collected $3.48 million from dispensaries
statewide.
But growing and processing cannabis takes up space — a
lot of it. In fact, it takes up so much space that the Washing-
ton State Liquor and Cannabis Board tasked the University of
Washington’s Cannabis Law and Policy Project with a study
quantifying how much space is needed to feed the state’s ap-
petite. The study found that the current 12.3 million square feet
— three times the size of the Mall of America — licensed by
the WSLCB is enough to provide for the state’s total market,
while the medical cannabis industry only needs between 1.7
million and 2 million square feet to reach the state’s needs.
According to a study published last October by commercial
real estate firm CBRE, the cannabis industry accounted for 3.7
million square feet of Denver’s occupied industrial space.
At the time, the study found the average industrial lease
rates were $7.05 per square foot across the Denver metro area,
and that rates for Class B and C warehouse spaces had jumped
56 percent, from $4.06 to $6.34 per square foot, in the past five
years.
According to The Denver Post, cannabis tenants tend to pay
two to three times the average lease
rates. This also seems to be the case
in Eugene, according to John Erv-
ing, a representative of commercial
real estate firm Evans, Elder and
Brown, who says, “If you’re rent-
ing a space for a dispensary, you’re
most likely going to have to pay
above market for rent.”
Erving says this is due to the
fact that cannabis is still deemed
illegal by the federal government,
and most renters are wary of leasing
space to those in the cannabis industry.
The cannabis industry isn’t alone in its battle for space in
Eugene. On the other side of the coin, local non-cannabis busi-
nesses are having trouble coping with the change in leasing
prices and sharing the space.
Mancave Brewing Company owner Brandon Woodruff says
he was leasing a space on Fifth and Fillmore that saw its rates
jump from about 33 cents per square foot to a dollar per square
foot. The business was unable to cope with the increase, leaving
Woodruff and his business without a location to operate.
“We even offered them more than double what we were pay-
ing,” Woodruff says. “They wanted a buck. I don’t even know
where they come up with these numbers.”
Woodruff suspects the raise in rental costs is due to the re-
cent legalization of cannabis.
Erving says it’s difficult to put all of the blame on the can-
nabis industry, because leasing rates have increased across the
board in the last year or two.
“It’s hard to say it’s due to marijuana licensing for cultiva-
tion,” Erving says. “It’s also just because the economy started
turning around and buildings started going up.”
Woodruff’s old neighbors still worry, despite no change in
their rental agreement. Owner of Mora Auto Repair Jose Mora
says that if his rent does goes up, he worries about losing the
space.
“It’s been stressful,” Mora says. “Marijuana is destroying
certain businesses.”
While he says he doesn’t have any gripes with those in the
cannabis industry, he worries about it negatively affecting small
businesses like his own.
“We feel like we have a rope around our neck,” says Mora
mechanic Pablo Alvarez. “We’re just waiting for someone to
kick the stool.”
The landlord of the spaces where
Mora’s business is currently located
and Woodruff had previously leased
from confirmed that the space is go-
ing to be taken over by a grow op-
eration.
“I own a 21,000-square-foot
building on 5th and Fillmore that
I’m leasing to people who grow
dope,” Darrel Mansell says. He says
he plans on raising the rents on the
remaining tenants.
‘If you’re renting
a space for a
dispensary, you’re
most likely going to
have to pay above
market for rent.’
— JOHN ERVING,
E VA N S , E L D E R A N D B R O W N
• On Friday, May 20, J-Tea opens its second
location on 19th Avenue, right next to the new
Sweet Life Petite. Called “The Oolong Bar,” this
location will serve “tea-inspired beverages and
snacks” and will sell loose-leaf tea as well as
made-to-order drinks and teas on nitro. The store
will be open 9 am to 9 pm on May 20, and all
attendees will receive coupons and free
samples. The CABA Lion Dancers are booked to
perform at 6:30 pm. See jteainternational.com
for more info.
• Pedalers Express, Eugene’s first bicycle
delivery service (which delivers EW on
Thursdays), has a new addition. The Distro Cycle
“can now deliver 800 pounds of product in one
run,” Pedalers tells EW. The Distro Cycle “has
three wheels, a durable frame, an enclosed
cargo container on the back, electrical
assistance,” and the courier sits in the front
steering with his/her feet while pedaling. The
bike delivery company uses the cycle primarily
to deliver GloryBee products such as “50-pound
bags of flours and sugars, buckets of honey and
syrup” to places such as Wandering Goat Coffee,
Keystone Café and more. Pedalers Express can
be contacted at pedex@catoregon.org.
• PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical
Center at RiverBend has received the American
Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s
Get With The Guidelines® — Stroke Gold Plus
Quality Achievement Award for 2016. This award
recognizes PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical
Center at RiverBend’s commitment and success
in implementing a high standard of stroke care
by ensuring that their stroke patients receive
treatment that meets nationally accepted,
evidence-based
standards
and
recommendations. This marks the fifth
consecutive year PeaceHealth has received this
award.
LANE COUNTY AREA
SPRAY SCHEDULE
Oregon Department of Transportation is
spraying roadsides. Call 503-986-3010 to talk
with a vegetation management coordinator or
call 1-888-996-8080 for recent herbicide
application information. Highways I-5, 58, 99,
105, 126 and Beltline were recently sprayed.
Cadore Timber, 485-1500, plans to hire Strata
Forestry Inc., 726-0845, to backpack spray 41.3
acres south of Hwy. 58 near Noisy Creek with
triclopyr, Brush & Basal Oil and MSO Concentrate,
targeting Scotch broom. See ODF notification
2016-771-05938, call Tim Meehan at 541-726-
3588 with questions.
Compiled by Gary Hale, Forestland Dwellers: 342-8332, for-
estlanddwellers.org
POLLUTION UPDATE
Oregon Department of Environmental Quality
(DEQ) recently sent a warning letter to the
Springfield Target Store (store # 612, located at
Gateway Mall) for hazardous waste law
violations. The store is designated as a “large
quantity generator” of hazardous waste because
it generates more than 2,200 pounds of
hazardous waste per month. DEQ’s warning
letter identifies reporting and inspection
violations, and notes that DEQ had to contact
Target Headquarters due to the unavailability of
records at the Springfield store. DEQ also
recently sent Maryland-based W.R. Grace & Co.
– Conn. a warning letter for failing to repair leaks
in reactors at its Albany facility within 15 days of
discovery. Grace waited more than 100 days to
repair leaks discovered in two of its reactors. As
noted previously in this space (goo.gl/MXPn4n),
Grace was fined by DEQ in April for illegally
transporting hazardous waste from Portland to
its Albany facility.
Doug Quirke/Oregon Clean Water Action Project
eugeneweekly.com • May 19, 2016
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