Goodness Growth Holdings, Inc.  (CSE: GDNS)(OTCQX: GDNSF) closed on a sale/leaseback deal with Innovative Industrial Properties, Inc. (IIP) (NYSE: IIPR) in New York. Goodness Growth reported that it sold IIP approximately 92.3 acres of land for $1.2 million. The site is next to Goodness Growth’s existing cannabis cultivation and processing facility in Johnstown, New York, which was formerly the site of a juvenile detention center. IIP said it plans to provide a tenant improvement reimbursement to Goodness Growth of roughly $55 million for the construction of a new 324,000 square foot cannabis cultivation, processing, and research and development facility.

“We are looking forward to beginning construction on this state-of-the-art facility in New York, which will immediately become the flagship cultivation and processing facility in our Company’s portfolio,” said Goodness Growth Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Kyle Kingsley, M.D. “This facility will produce the highest-quality indoor flower we’ve ever produced and help prepare our business for the massive spike in demand expected when New York’s adult-use cannabis program goes online next year. This facility will also support the expansion of our retail network in New York as we look to open up to four new dispensaries next year, which would bring our total number of stores in New York to eight.”

Goodness Growth and IIP isad they will partner on the development of the project and will amend the terms of their existing lease agreement to incorporate the new facility. The initial annualized base rent will be 10.5% of the tenant improvement budget plus the purchase price, for a term of twenty years. The lease amendment contains a rent escalation clause that is triggered in the event that Goodness Growth doesn’t satisfy certain strategic benchmarks, which would increase the rent by 1.5%.

Goodness Growth is one of ten licensed operators in New York’s medical cannabis program. It was previously known as Vireo Health, but the company changed its name this past summer.  It currently operates four dispensaries in Queens, White Plains, Albany and Binghamton under the Vireo Health name, as well as its home delivery business which serves the New York City metro area. The company said it plans to rebrand all its dispensaries in New York to its Green Goods national dispensary brand after the onset of the adult-use program next year.

Goodness Growth also forecasts that it expects to generate total revenue in the range of $140 to $180 million in its fiscal year 2022 and that it expects to generate adjusted EBITDA in the range of $35 to $55 million in the fiscal year 2022.