BlueVault Organic Marijuana Ltd. has tapped the firm to handle the sale of a future cannabis production facility in Pemberton, B.C.
Vancouver, July 9, 2018 – BlueVault Organic Marijuana Ltd. has retained Colliers International, a global leader in commercial real estate services, to handle the sale of a future cannabis production facility in Pemberton, British Columbia. While most large-scale investment in the B.C. cannabis industry has been facilitated on a direct or joint venture basis, Colliers’ offering is the first cannabis operation in the province to be publicly marketed through a commercial real estate firm since the federal government approved Bill C-45 and set in motion the legalization of cannabis in Canada. In June 2018, Health Canada passed legislation to allow for outdoor growing Licensed Producer/Standard Cultivation Licenses in addition to indoor growing licenses.
“We have already seen demand for assets suitable for cannabis production increase over the past year, both on agricultural land and industrial assets”, said Bianca Gilbert, Industrial Sales & Leasing Associate with Colliers International in Vancouver. “With the recent approval of outdoor growing legislation, demand for these types of assets is also likely to increase. This opportunity with BlueVault allows for a prospective buyer/partner to own one of the first large-scale outdoor growing facilities in Canada.”
Referred to as a “late stage ACMPR applicant”, the current facility owner has received preliminary Health Canada approval to operate an indoor growing facility subject to pre-license inspection. Pre-license inspection requires Health Canada to undertake a final review of an evidence package outlining an operator’s adherence to the strict Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPR) construction guidelines. Applicants wishing to obtain a license to produce cannabis typically wait up to nine months for initial feedback on their application and up to 36 months for approval.
“Considering the potential for BlueVault to begin operations in early 2019, preliminary interest in the facility from industry and non-industry players has been strong,” said Alan Johnson, Vice President with the Unique Properties team in Colliers Vancouver. “There is a wide range of groups looking to capitalize on the growing cannabis market, and this BlueVault offering is the best opportunity in B.C. to do just that.”
Located on over 135 acres of Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) land in Pemberton Valley, the indoor facility will be constructed within an existing building and provide over 50,000 square feet of net growing area. Once built, this operation will be one of only two with Standard Cultivation Licenses within the Pemberton region, the other being Whistler Medical Marijuana Corp. (WMMC). It will be one of only 25 operations with Standard Cultivation Licenses in B.C., joining the ranks of BC Tweed, Tantalus Labs, Zenabis, Emerald Health and Tilray.
Similar to WMMC, the BlueVault operation is intended to be 100% organically certified and be among the handful of organically certified operations of the current 112 Licensed Producers in Canada. BlueVault Organic expects to produce up to 9,334 kilograms of medical marijuana per year from its indoor operation.
While cannabis will not become legal for recreational use in Canada until October 17, 2018, its use for medical purposes has been legal in the country since 2001. The passing of Bill C-45 will have a positive effect on current Licensed Producers, according to Alan Johnson. “The legalization of cannabis for recreational use will provide a significantly greater market for existing Licensed Producers, with another distribution channel for them to cater to,” he said. “This, in turn, will increase the demand for suitable space in which to conduct operations, making a facility such as that of BlueVault a truly valuable and attractive asset.”
Prior to listing BlueVault’s facility, Colliers released a White Paper discussing the potential to use ALR land to produce recreational cannabis in B.C, and the opportunity it presents for producers, investors and ALR land owners.
