Paul Smithers

WIMAUMA, FL—San Diego-based Innovative Industrial Properties, Inc. (IIP), a real estate company focused on the regulated US cannabis industry, has closed on the acquisition of a property here for $35.3 million.

The property comprises approximately 373,000 square feet of industrial and greenhouse space. The seller was an affiliate of Parallel, a multi-state cannabis company with operations in Florida, Massachusetts, Nevada and Texas. Parallel is the corporate parent company to Surterra Wellness, one of the original licensed vertical operators in Florida, with a rapidly growing footprint that includes 39 retail dispensaries across the state and multiple industrial-scale cultivation, production and research facilities.

Concurrent with the closing of the purchase, IIP entered into a long-term, triple-net lease agreement for the property with a subsidiary of Parallel, which intends to continue to operate the property as a regulated medical cannabis cultivation and processing facility.

Parallel is expected to complete additional tenant improvements for the property, for which IIP has agreed to provide reimbursement of up to $8.2 million.

GlobeSt.com was unable to reach IIP for additional comment.

The company looks forward to supporting Parallel as their long-term real estate capital partner in Florida and elsewhere, said Paul Smithers, president and CEO of IIP, in prepared remarks. "Parallel has a tremendous footprint in Florida with its 39 operating dispensary locations, and we expect the Wimauma facility to be a critical catalyst to Parallel's continued growth and expansion of operations to meet the tremendous patient need for high quality medical cannabis products throughout Florida."

Florida is one of the largest and one of the fastest growing medical-use cannabis markets in the US. As of March 11, 2020, IIP owned 53 properties located in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia, totaling approximately 3.8 million rentable square feet.