The state, which legalized recreational marijuana use in 2012, saw legal sales approach $700 million last year, the Wall Street Journal reports. But growing and storing all that marijuana requires a lot of physical space, and that could be a problem for Denver, which is a major hub for companies shipping and storing goods between southern California and Kansas City.
Some companies looking to upgrade their square footage have had a difficult time finding affordable space. “It’s all just getting snatched up by these marijuana people,” Steve Badgley, chief executive of Colorado Specialties Corp, told the Journal.
As much as a third of new warehouse space in Colorado in the past 18 months has been leased to marijuana distributors and growers, according to real-estate firm Cresa Partners. In the state’s warehouse market, rental rates rose 10 percent last year and buying costs have doubled since since the start of last year, according to figures from another firm, CBRE.
“It seems like every warehouse from 8,000 to 20,000 square feet is being turned into an indoor marijuana farm,” Tom Glaspern, managing director in Denver for SEKO Logistics, said. “We had opportunities [with customers] last year that we just had to turn down because we didn’t have the space.”
Go Inside the Harvest of Colorado's Most Controversial Marijuana Strain
Charlotte's Web grows on the Stanley brother's farm near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. The Stanley Brothers have developed a popular strain of cannabis that has been found to be helpful in reducing seizures in some children. Charlotte's Web is high in a compound called cannabidiol (CBD) and low in tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) the compound that causes a high.
Matt Nager for TIMECharlotte's Web grows on the Stanley brother's farm near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIMEFrom left: Zachary Sobol, Michael Atchley, and Jared Stanley walk to the farm to prepare for harvest of Charlotte's Web near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIMERows of Charlotte's Web await harvest at the Stanley brother's farm near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIMEJared Stanley helps in the harvest of Charlotte's Web on the Stanley brother's farm near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIMEColin Sparks searches for seeds during the harvest of Charlotte's Web on the Stanley brother's Charlotte's Web farm near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIMEDiscarded leaves of Charlotte's Web at a farm near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIMETim Knight helps in the harvest of Charlotte's Web on the Stanley brother's farm near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIMERows of Charlotte's Web await travel to a drying facility after being harvested on a farm near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIMEZachary Sobol catches a ride on a trailer to the Stanley brother's farm during harvest of Charlotte's Web near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIMERows of Charlotte's Web await travel to a drying facility after being harvested from a farm near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIMEOne of the Stanley brother's greenhouses growing cannabis near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIMEZachary Sobol hangs rows of Charlotte's Web to dry after harvest in Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIMEPenn Mattison, left, and Zachary Sobol, right, hang rows of Charlotte's Web to dry after being harvested from a farm near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIMEThe Stanley brothers' new company laboratory in Boulder, Colo. on Sept. 23, 2014. Matt Nager for TIMEA petri dish full of cannabis explants await transfer and transplanting at the Stanley brothers' lab in Boulder, Colo. on Sept. 23, 2014. Matt Nager for TIMEMolecular plant biologist and lab manager Bear Reel awaits the cooling of agar to help induce rooting of transplanted cannabis plants at the Stanley brothers' company laboratory in Boulder, Colo. on Sept. 23, 2014. Matt Nager for TIMEThe lab notebook of molecular plant biologist and lab manager Bear Reel at the Stanley brothers' company laboratory in Boulder, Colo. on Sept. 23, 2014. Matt Nager for TIMEA flask of agar cools before explants of hemp are transplanted to help induce rooting and new growth at the Stanley brothers' company laboratory in in Boulder, Colo. on Sept. 23, 2014. Matt Nager for TIMETissue cutter technician Meg Regan holds a vial of explants before sanitizing and transplanting at the Stanley brothers' laboratory in Boulder, Colo. on Sept. 23, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME
