The Los Angeles City Council voted and approved new regulations for recreational cannabis businesses. Recreational marijuana will officially spread like wildfire on January 1, 2018, per California state law. This will be a boon for industrial real estate landlords as cannabis growers and cultivation operations typically pay premium industrial rental rates compared to regular warehouse and manufacturing users. Pot growers often pay in excess of 2X the market rate. Some key rules are below from the L.A. Times article. The mayor is expected to sign the ordinance soon.

12/20/2017 UPDATE: the Mayor signed the cannabis ordinance.

Under the new regulations, pot shops can open their doors only in specific commercial and industrial zones and must operate at least 700 feet from schools, public parks and libraries, child care centers, alcohol and drug treatment centers and other “sensitive” sites, as well as from other pot retailers.

Other kinds of marijuana businesses, including growers and manufacturers, would be confined to industrial zones and banned within 600 feet of schools. And marijuana manufacturers that use volatile solvents would also be prohibited within 200 feet of residential areas.

To prevent an “undue concentration” in neighborhoods, city leaders also decided to cap the number of pot shops, growers, manufacturers and marijuana “micro-businesses,” which do a combination of things, allowed in each community.