Applicants who want more say over where their businesses are located will be pleased to hear that licensees are no longer compelled to take state-leased storefronts.
There needs to be more information on the amount of money raised or the number of properties leased by the Dormitory Authority. The agency just this week made public the signing of the first lease for a shop in Harlem.
The state’s loosened storefront criteria reflect the current economic circumstances, according to Scheril Murray Powell, an attorney representing one of the license holders and twenty-six additional applications through her non-profit, the Justüs Foundation.
Potential patrons and financiers had grown wary of parting with their cash, which, she argued, has slowed the expansion of the state fund. Ms. Murray Powell remarked, “It seems to be impacting the O.C.M.,” referring to the cannabis agency.
