The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) has a new game plan to open cannabis dispensaries at a faster clip in New York by turning the state’s private sector partner, alternative investments manager Chicago Atlantic, into their landlord.
The five-year-old Chicago Atlantic will now buy properties for future dispensaries then collect rent from the operators themselves, state officials revealed during a New York State Senate hearing Tuesday.
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That’s a change from how the much-maligned $200 million Cannabis Social Equity Investment Fund previously worked as DASNY handled the leasing of storefronts before and didn’t acquire properties. Chicago Atlantic will continue to make a tidy profit as it will still collect the 13 percent interest rate on loans made through the fund for cannabis operators to get up and running.
This shift was news to state lawmakers, who gave the marching orders for the fund three years ago and seemingly learned of the change by accident during the Tuesday confirmation hearing for DASNY CEO Robert Rodriguez.
“This is a new concept,” New York Sen. Liz Krueger, the chair of the Senate Finance Committee, said, butting into Rodriguez’s testimony.