Experienced Cannabis Real Estate Lawyers

Protect Your Business Interests

Rattner Law’s Cannabis Real Estate Law Experience

Most businesses need land or a building from which to operate. In connection with highly regulated cannabis operations, identifying and operating from a specific site is normally mandatory. Securing suitable real estate is thus a critical element of launching a business.

At Rattner Law, we advise clients from across the United States about all aspects of site selection and procurement, from zoning laws and regulatory compliance to negotiating leases and option agreements. We do this with a special awareness of the challenges cannabis businesses face in securing suitable real estate.

Lease transactions

Leases are a common way that businesses, cannabis-touching or otherwise, secure locations. Commercial leases require special considerations for cannabis industry businesses, and businesses that treat these leases like standard commercial leases place their long-term survival in great peril.

At Rattner Law, we take a holistic view of the legal landscape applicable to a particular property, which includes local zoning laws and regulations, applicable cannabis laws and state-level regulations, and we also address underlying issues with a particular property that may otherwise make it unsuitable for use as a plant-touching business. We also represent our clients before planning boards, community boards, and other municipal agencies in connection with site selection and leasing.

Zoning

Cities, towns, and villages often try to restrict where you can locate a cannabis business. This can be done explicitly through “green-zoning” or by implementing special permitting requirements and other discretionary reviews that are unique to cannabis industry participants. It is critical that businesses understand local zoning ordinances and requirements so they can make smart choices for their businesses. However, it is also important to know whether those local laws are permissible or subject to being challenged successfully.

At Rattner Law, we analyze local laws, ordinances and regulations, and provide our clients with more than just a technical legal answer; we provide clear, practical advice.

Land use

It is often overlooked that many laws, including New York’s Cannabis law, encourage environmental sustainability. When choosing a site, a business must consider its long-term impacts on the land, the environment, and the community in which it will operate. Rattner Law provides strategic counsel to our clients on long-term land-use planning and sustainability efforts, including cannabis waste management, recycling, and clean energy.

Municipal Advocacy

The attorneys at Rattner Law are educators and advocates. We strive to open new markets for our clients by educating municipal governments and their constituents about federal, state, and local laws relating to cannabis. We do this through open dialogue, appearing at local meetings on behalf of our clients, and providing strategic advice to our clients about how to navigate issues with local governments and community boards.

Why Work With Rattner Law On Cannabis Real Estate Matters?

Selecting the right site for your business is a make-or-break decision. A poorly located dispensary, for example, will not be able to compete with other, better located dispensaries in its competitive set. Similarly, locking your business into a long-term lease that fails to address many of the issues cannabis industry operators face and that omits many of the protections necessary for such leases can be a business-ending mistake.

The attorneys at Rattner Law have seen many of these issues before, and draw on this experience to help their clients navigate the practical realities of site selection, applicable federal, state, and local laws, and interacting with the municipalities in which they will operate. Additionally, we will endeavor to find ways to make your site viable through diligent inquiry, sustained advocacy, and creative solutions.

However, it is important to recognize that not all sites are viable, and there may be situations where the cost and risks of proceeding with a specific site outweigh the potential benefits. If that happens, the attorneys at Rattner Law will provide a candid assessment of the options, as we recognize that different businesses have different risk-reward tolerances.

All Practice Areas By Rattner Law

Identifying and securing real estate is just one part of launching a business. It needs to be viewed in conjunction with how the real estate will be used for licensed activities, how it can be leveraged in the future, and how it can add value to business operations and profitability. At Rattner Law, we view real estate matters as a building block in launching a successful business, and therefore offer these services as part of our comprehensive suite of legal services.

These services include

Entity selection and formation
Corporate governance documentation (i.e., operating agreements, shareholder agreements, etc.)
Corporate governance advice
Cannabis license applications
Regulatory compliance and advice
Contract review and interpretation
Contract negotiation and drafting
Deal structuring
Mergers, acquisitions, and exits
Real estate transactions
Advocacy work before municipalities and community boards
Fractional outside general counsel
Labor and employment
Intellectual property licensing
Intellectual property litigation
Business and commercial litigation
Partnership disputes
Mediation
Arbitration
Article 78 litigation

FAQs About Cannabis Real Estate Law

What should I look for in a cannabis real estate attorney?

A cannabis-focused real estate attorney should be prepared to do more than just complete a transaction. The attorney should be an advocate for your business before the relevant municipality or community board, and should know how to navigate common challenges that face the cannabis industry participants in real estate transactions. If they cannot list several issues that arise in leasing transactions off the top of their head, for example, it’s likely that they do not have the background necessary to adequately protect your business.

How does federal law impact cannabis real estate transactions?

Cannabis remains a federally illegal controlled substance. As such, many properties are unsuitable for use due to the specific terms of mortgages, and there are other special considerations that need to be taken into account when engaging in real estate transactions that will benefit plant-touching businesses.

Contact Rattner Law

445 Hamilton Ave. Suite 1102, White Plains, NY 10601
Hours: 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. EST
info@rattner-law.com
(914) 220-5468

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