Marijuana operator Curaleaf accused of wrongly terminating Pennsylvania lease

Pennsylvania real estate company Regent Development is suing Curaleaf Holdings, alleging the marijuana multistate operator breached a lease agreement on a commercial property.

Regent alleges in the lawsuit that Massachusetts-headquartered Curaleaf deliberately failed to secure licensing and regulatory approval to operate a dispensary on the property in question after acquiring another company that already had approvals in place, Law360 reported.

The lawsuit, which was removed to Pennsylvania Eastern District Court on Monday, alleges that Curaleaf:

• Signed a lease agreement for a commercial property in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, in 2017.
• Wasn’t permitted to terminate its lease unless it made an effort to secure regulatory approvals to open a dispensary there.
• Acquired medical cannabis company Grassroots, which had a licensed dispensary close to the King of Prussia property, in 2019 or 2020.
• Avoided communications with Regent until terminating its lease and that the MSO’s real estate counsel advised that the company had already secured licenses elsewhere.

According to the notice of removal, Regent alleges Curaleaf is obligated to pay minimum rent and additional rent until 60 months after its receipt of final regulatory approval as well as an additional five years in rent.

The notice also noted that “Curaleaf denies Regent’s allegations and further denies it has any liability to Regent whatsoever.”

Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/cannabis-operator-curaleaf-accused-of-wrongly-terminating-pennsylvania-lease/