Michigan’s Skymint purchases 3Fifteen, aggregating 27 dispensary locations
Michigan-based Skymint announced a purchase of 3Fifteen Cannabis Tuesday, merging together two of the state’s largest dispensary chains, bringing 27 existing locations, 12 from 3Fifteen, under one brand. Skymint also plans to open another three stores in Michigan this year, and another fifteen in 2022.
The purchase, for an undisclosed amount, comes on the heels of a $70 million Senior Secured Term Loan from Tropics LP, an affiliate of SunStream Bancorp Inc. and an $8 million equity investment from Merida Capital Holdings.
Skymint also operates two indoor cultivation facilities totaling 77,000 square feet in Dimondale and Lansing, a third 184,000 square foot indoor cultivation facility expected to come online next year, as well as a 1,000-acre outdoor farm in Luther, Michigan.
So far Skymint, a private company, has limited its growth to Michigan, but Tuesday’s press release hints at plans outside the Mitten, where it says it’s strong balance sheet allows it to, “execute on accretive opportunities in and outside of Michigan.”
3Fifteen, also a private company, is controlled by Victor Kattoula, Michigan’s largest single license holder. Prior to 3Fifteen’s sale, Kattoula operated 39 cannabis licenses throughout Michigan under a number of brand names including 3Fifteen, Green Skies, Battle Springs, Ann Arbor Healing, and Green Roots.
Chicago approves expanded zoning for cannabis businesses
After a series of parliamentary maneuvers, briefly delaying passage, Chicago’s City Council approved new city zoning rules on Monday for cannabis businesses that vastly expands the number of properties dispensaries can locate, expands the downtown areas where dispensaries can locate, and allows cultivators, craft grow, and infusers to locate in Manufacturing zones by right.
The new rules, first proposed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot and passed 33-13, encountered opposition from some aldermen who felt the city was not doing enough to protect social equity license holders, including a pair of aldermen who delayed the ordinance’s passage last week with a parliamentary rule that allows councilmembers to delay consideration until the next meeting. Chicago City Council meetings are normally held once a month, but Mayor Lightfoot used a special meeting already scheduled for Monday to move the cannabis zoning bill to passage.
The new rule vastly trims down the area in downtown Chicago restricted from cannabis sales so that almost all of Chicago is open for licensed businesses except the Michigan Avenue area. Demand is high in downtown Chicago, as this reporter witnessed lines down the block for a PharmaCann Verilife store and a Cresco Labs Sunnyside store in Chicago’s River North neighborhood last Friday afternoon.
Illinois sends out another round of craft grow deficiency notices
Illinois craft grow license applicants received notices from the Department of Agriculture allowing fixes to their application so they may receive a higher score. While the Department of Agriculture is not explicitly saying so, this is presumably in preparation for another round of 60 craft grow licenses the state plans to award by December 21, 2021.
Asked for an explanation, a state spokesperson responded back with verbatim language from the department’s website. “Before the Department can issue the additional licenses, the Department must send out additional Deficiency Notices to Applicants who did not previously receive the 4th round of Deficiency Notices. The 4th round of Deficiency Notices will be sent to all Applicants with missing information in exhibits that were not assigned a point value in CRTA and its corresponding administrative rules.”
