Newton, MA According to AmeriCann, Inc., a company that is developing sustainable medical cannabis cultivation properties, they will be the title presenter at the New England Real Estate Journal’s (NEREJ) first summit of 2017. The “Cannabis in Commercial Real Estate Summit” will be held February 8 at the Boston Marriot Newton, 2345 Commonwealth Ave., from 8 a.m. to 12noon.

NEREJ is the largest commercial real estate media company in the world that covers all six New England states and has been in business since 1963. NEREJ has 13 summits a year in Massachusetts, Northern New England and Connecticut.

AmeriCann’s president and CEO, Tim Keogh, will be a panelist, as well as meeting one-on-one with attendees and investors throughout the event discussing the company and the Massachusetts Medical Cannabis Center (MMCC).

The commercial real estate market in Massachusetts will undergo significant expansion revitalization as the cannabis industry develops throughout the Commonwealth. According to a September 2015 Market Report conducted by CBRE; “The marijuana industry was a key factor in the industrial sector’s recovery during the current business cycle, accounting for 35.8% of Denver’s total net absorption in industrial space between 2009 and 2014. Marijuana cultivation accounts for at least 3.7 million s/f of occupied industrial space in Denver, or approximately 2.6% of the existing warehouse footprint.”

According to the Marijuana Business Daily Factbook 2016, “Cannabis storefronts average $974 in revenue annually per s/f of space.”  This volume of sales puts cannabis storefronts in the same range as Whole Foods Store and Costco Wholesale Store based on that key financial metric.

The regulated cannabis industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the country. The Wall Street firm of Cowen & Co recently released a research report projecting growth for the industry from the current $7 billion nationally to over $50 billion in ten years.

Massachusetts, California, Maine, and Nevada voted to legalize recreational marijuana while Arkansas and North Dakota approved medical cannabis initiatives. Florida voters approved medical marijuana in a landslide with over 71% of the vote. With these election results, over 60% of the U.S. population now live in states where medical cannabis is now legal.

AmeriCann has designed a proprietary line of cannabis infused products which will be branded and licensed to companies in regulated markets. AmeriCann is a Certified B Corp., an acknowledgment of the company’s commitment to social and environmental ethics, transparency and accountability. AmeriCann became the first public cannabis company to earn this respected accreditation.

MMCC is approved for nearly 1 million s/f of medical cannabis cultivation and processing in Freetown, Mass.

The sustainable greenhouse project will consist of multiple planned phases for tenants in the Massachusetts medical marijuana market. AmeriCann’s Cannopy System uniquely combines expertise from traditional horticulture, lean manufacturing, regulatory compliance and cannabis cultivation to create superior facilities and procedures.

The first phase of the project consists of 130,000 s/f of cultivation and processing infrastructure. AmeriCann can expand the first phase to approximately 600,000 s/f, based on patient demand.