The Come Back Daily store in Manhattan. Steven Phan and his partner opened the shop in hopes of upping their chances of winning a license for a retail pot shop.
Photographer: Jeenah Moon/BloombergNY Rules Leave Little Room for Pot Shops in Hot Neighborhoods
As New York prepares to dole out licenses for recreational cannabis, entrepreneurs face real estate challenges, from Harlem to Lower Manhattan.
As a real estate broker who specializes in the cannabis industry, Colby Piper is well positioned to get into New York’s burgeoning market himself. And as someone who’s been convicted of a crime related to weed, he’s even better situated now to secure one of the state’s first recreational licenses, after officials announced plans in March to give preference to applicants like Piper. “It puts me right at the front of the line,” he said.
But even for Piper, opening a shop in his preferred neighborhood of Harlem may not be easy.