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Speakers and Panels

Arana Hankin-Biggers

Arana Hankin-Biggers

President & Co-Founder

Union Square Travel Agency: A Cannabis Store

Macro Outlook: Challenges Facing the Cannabis Industry

Legal Challenges & Policy Constraints

Josh Joseph

Josh Joseph

Founder & CEO

Big Plan Holdings

Jeremy Unruh

Jeremy Unruh

SVP, Public and Regulatory Affairs

PharmaCann

Colby Piper

Colby Piper

Director

RIPCO Real Estate

Robert DiPisa
Moderator

Robert DiPisa

Member

Cole Schotz

Jeremy Unruh

SVP, Public and Regulatory Affairs

PharmaCann

Jeremy Unruh serves as the PharmaCann senior vice president of public and regulatory affairs.

Jeremy is responsible for the company’s strategic external matters, including legislative policy and public affairs; media relationships; organized labor; and coordination with state and local regulators. He works closely with PharmaCann’s finance team to facilitate investor and banking relationships. He manages lobbying efforts in eight statehouses and Washington, D.C., and is at the tip of the spear as PharmaCann works to optimize its operations across the company’s eight-state footprint.

Jeremy was PharmaCann’s first employee, initially serving a general counsel and chief compliance officer, and later focusing on the company’s external affairs.

Beginning his career as a prosecutor, Jeremy was trained in trial advocacy by the United States Department of Justice at the National College of District Attorneys in Columbia, S.C. Before his appointment as the first-chair prosecutor in the courtroom of the Chief Judge of the Criminal Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, Jeremy successfully investigated and tried drug cases, homicides, financial, and sexual abuse crimes.

Jeremy went into private practice for a national law firm that would reach the American Lawyer Top 100 during his tenure. Jeremy’s practice focused on commercial litigation, internal compliance investigations in the financial services and healthcare sectors, and product liability defense. He was the lead trial attorney on the national product liability trial team for a Fortune 100 industrial company for many years. He joined the firm’s Chicago office in 2006, where he helped grow the Chicago law firm from a handful of lawyers to an office of more than 100 lawyers when he left to join the cannabis industry in 2015.

Jeremy has a B.S. from Kansas State University. He earned a Juris Doctor from Washburn University School of Law where he was an inaugural recipient of the Environmental Law certificate. While serving as an assistant state’s attorney in Chicago, Jeremy attended DePaul University Kellstadt School of Business Management at night and earned his M.B.A. Jeremy lives in Winnetka, Illinois with his beautiful wife, three delightful children, and a half-witted dog.

Robert DiPisa

Moderator

Cole Schotz

Known for his high level of personal commitment to his clients, Robert has the skill, knowledge and creativity necessary to solve problems and identify opportunities for them. As a member of the firm’s Real Estate practice, Robert counsels developers, real estate equity and opportunity funds, real estate investment trusts, investors, owners and tenants in all aspects of commercial real estate transactions. His practice is national in scope and encompasses a broad range of transactions, with particular emphasis on acquisitions, dispositions, development and retail leasing. His professional focus also includes the management, financing and construction of commercial, retail, industrial and multi-unit residential properties.

Robert is also chair of the firm’s Cannabis Group and counsels clients regarding regulatory compliance, risk management, governmental affairs, licensing and the leasing and acquisition of real property in connection with cannabis related uses. He employs a grass-roots approach that is pivotal in breaking the stigma associated with cannabis and its derivatives.

Honors & Awards

Recently recognized as a “Cannabis Law Trailblazer” by The National Law Journal, a “New Leader of the Bar” honoree by New Jersey Law Journal, a “Leader in the Law” by NJBIZ, and the recipient of a Band ranking from the prestigious Chambers USA, Robert DiPisa has gained a reputation for his steadfast ability to guide clients from across the cannabis industry. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.

Representative matters include:

Representing cannabis entrepreneurs in connection with applications for vertically integrated medicinal cannabis licenses in the State of New Jersey.

Representing New York and New Jersey based real estate investment and property services firm in connection with the acquisition of a 10.4 acre site formerly occupied by a Bon Ton Department Store at Westgate Mall in Bethlehem, PA for $30,000,000.

Representing publicly traded REIT in connection with the concurrent leasing of 17 sites across 10 states to a national value based gym totaling approximately 220,000 square feet.

Representing landlords and tenants in connection with the leasing of real estate for cannabis related businesses.

Representing redeveloper and urban renewal entity in connection with the acquisition of a 2.73-acre former manufacturing facility site in Jersey City, NJ for $17,000,000 for the purposes of developing a mixed use multi-unit residential and retail development.

Representing a prominent New Jersey commercial real estate owner and developer in the sale of four supermarket and pharmacy anchored shopping centers for $124,550,000 to a REIT in an “off market” transaction deemed “the largest strip center portfolio trade in Northern New Jersey over the last decade” by Northeast Real Estate Business Magazine. The representation included the creation and administration of an on-line due diligence document database containing over 500 files for bidders’ review, establishing bidding procedures for prospective purchasers, evaluating the bids received with the client, closing on the sale, and negotiating post-closing environmental obligations and related financial assurances.

Representing a post-bankruptcy entity in the disposition of over 343 acres of land throughout the United States in connection with an asset sale in the amount of $146,749,000. The representation included establishing bidding procedures for prospective purchasers, evaluating the bids received with the client, closing on the sale, and negotiating post-closing environmental obligation.

Representing the owner of the Rosedale Center, a multi-level mall in Roseville, Minnesota containing over 1,000,000 square feet of floor area with approximately 171 stores and 18 restaurants, in the negotiation of numerous leases and amendments with national and regional tenants.

Representing private REIT concerning offering in connection with the acquisition of commercial property located in Chattanooga, TN.

Representing prominent national developers in connection with obtaining funding from the New Jersey Economic Development Agency Incentive Program for the development of three mixed use high-rise towers in Jersey City, NJ.

Representing client in connection with the potential buyout of an existing vertically integrated medicinal cannabis license in the State of New Jersey.

Representing prominent New Jersey developer concerning the development of a mixed-use residential commercial property located in Harrison, NJ.

Representing Walgreens Co. and McDonald’s USA, LLC before planning and zoning boards throughout Hudson and Essex County, NJ.

Representing startups in the areas of information technology, real estate and the sale of consumer goods and services.

Networks & Affiliations

He is a frequent presenter on the economic benefits of the cannabis industry, lectures courses on cannabis law and is a member of several organizations including New Jersey CannaBusiness Association and REVEL. In addition, Robert is a contributor to national publications on this topic such as MarketWatch, Bloomberg Law, POLITICO, Marijuana Business Daily and The Wall Street Journal.

Funding & Investing in Cannabis' Growth

Access to Capital & Assessing Compliance

Joseph Lustberg

Joseph Lustberg

Managing Partner

Upwise Capital

Erik Murray

Erik Murray

Founder & CEO

Eastside Innovation

Brinda Ganguly

Brinda Ganguly

EVP & Head of Investments

New York City Economic Development Corporation

Matthew Greenberg

Matthew Greenberg

Co-Founder

Platform Cannabis Advisors

Matt Karnes

Matt Karnes

Founder

GreenWaves Advisors

Matt Leonardo

Matt Leonardo

Principal

Hinman Straub

Karl Frederic
Moderator

Karl Frederic

Partner

Windels Marx, Lane & Mittendorf

Erik Murray

Founder & CEO

Eastside Innovation

Erik Murray is the Chairman and Managing Partner of Lafayette, CA based Oak Funds and Oak Impact Group, among California’s leading cannabis real estate developers, owners, and managers. With a keen understanding of social equity and a focus on operating at the intersection of prime commercial real estate and positive social impact, since 2016, Murray and his team at Oak have successfully acquired and developed over a dozen cannabis properties valued at nearly $200M. Every project in Oak’s portfolio has a social equity ownership and/or incubation component, and Murray is proud to be at the forefront of impact investing in cannabis by proving that outsized returns for investors and positive impacts to communities harmed by the war on drugs are not mutually exclusive. The first exits from the portfolio already delivered a 2.5x multiple and a 140% IRR to investors, and Oak is excited to continue expanding the platform in 2022. Murray volunteers on the Boards of the Last Prisoner Project and Union Square Alliance, and is a member of the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors (SIOR), a Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM), a Senior Alpine Instructor in the National Ski Patrol, and resides in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Karl Frederic

Moderator

Windels Marx, Lane & Mittendorf

Karl Frederic is a Partner with the law firm of Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf, LLP. Has a multi-disciplinary practice focusing on real estate development, leasing, construction and related matters involving the full spectrum of real estate assets -- from retail centers and corporate headquarters to MetLife Stadium. He has a particular experience in real estate matters involving the pharmaceutical and bio-tech industries. He also advises on acquisitions and the repositioning and expansion of existing developed assets. As the cannabis industry has risen over the past few years, Karl has applied his experience in life sciences to the needs of this sector, and has developed significant contacts throughout the cannabis industry, including representing trade groups, cultivators and CBD start-ups. Karl frequently speaks and writes on cannabis and related topics. He can be reached at T: 732.448.2552 or E:

Managing Retail, Site Selection & Creating Compliant Spaces

Top Performing Stores & Acquisition Strategies

Vladimir Bautista

Vladimir Bautista

CEO & Co-Founder

Happy Munkey

Paul Yau

Paul Yau

Co-Founder, Partner

Union Square Travel Agency: A Cannabis Store

David Fettner

David Fettner

Co-Founder and Managing Partner

Grow America Builders

Daniel Tropp

Daniel Tropp

President

AEBOV Industrial Real Estate Brokerage

Chris Palmese
Moderator

Chris Palmese

Partner

Seyfarth

David Fettner

Co-Founder and Managing Partner

Grow America Builders

For over two decades, David has worn two hats; he has been one of Chicago’s premier general contractors, and also a practicing real estate and zoning attorney. In 2017 he combined those unique skill sets along with his passion for the cannabis industry to co-found, Grow America Builders, to be one of the only national Design+Build firms working exclusively in cannabis. David’s 20+ years experience in retail, industrial and commercial construction provided a seamless transition into the different methods of cannabis facility construction. But his legal experience in real estate and zoning law is what gives his clients an advantage when navigating through the numerous zoning, building and compliance codes that regulate cannabis construction. David’s vision was to create a company that would be a true one stop for any cannabis client; consulting, zoning entitlements, land development, architecture, engineering, interior design, and turnkey construction. That vision came to life via Grow America Builders, and since its inception, David and his team have worked on virtually every type of cannabis facility literally from coast to coast across fourteen states in almost every scope and capacity. David earned his Bachelor of Arts at the University of Iowa and Juris Doctor at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law.

Daniel Tropp

President

AEBOV Industrial Real Estate Brokerage

Daniel founded AEBOV Industrial Real Estate Brokerage in June of 2020 to hone in on his passion for industrial real estate. Shortly thereafter the firm started to take on clients in the cannabis space. Currently, AEBOV represents cannabis operators across all license classes looking to acquire facilities in NY or NJ.

Daniel's podcast, "AEBOV Grade", shares discussions with industry leaders on all facets of industrial real estate. He also hosts a webinar series entitled "From Ordinance to Opportunity", which delves into cannabis real estate-related issues.

Daniel is currently a member of the Cannabis & Hemp Networking Association NY and a column contributor to the Commercial Observer.

Chris Palmese

Moderator

Seyfarth

As a partner in Seyfarth’s Real Estate department, Christopher’s practice focuses on the representation of purchasers, sellers, investors, developers, lenders, tenants, and landlords in all facets of their commercial real estate portfolios. Christopher has been a member of the Commercial Real Estate Finance Council’s Sustainability Initiative, which focuses on the intersection of climate risk and commercial real estate finance, since its inception in 2021. He is also a member of the firm’s Impact & ESG advisory group. In 2023, Christopher served as a curator on the Content Committee for the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association’s BuildingEnergy NYC conference—a conference dedicated to sustainability in real estate and decarbonizing the built environment. Drawing on his experience in the cannabis real estate space, Christopher served as a panelist for a 2022 Strafford CLE webinar on leasing to cannabis-related businesses.

WHY THIS MATTERS

What You'll Learn:

  • Hear how new legislation is impacting the implementation of legal cannabis retail stores in New York City.

  • As time and new policies normalize the Cannabis sector, what is changing with regard to leasing policies and activity? 

  • How are dispensaries impacting the local community and surrounding commercial property values?

  • Experts will weigh in on the impact that downgrading cannabis from a a Schedule I Drug to a Schedule III Drug would have on the industry. 

  • How do rules and regulations differ across states? Which states are next in line for legalization and where do the opportunities lie?

  • How do brands that lean into social equity have an opportunity to positively impact their ROI?

  • If and when cannabis becomes legal on the federal level, what can we expect to see in terms of financing options, innovation and trends, and new challenges?

How You'll Do More Business

Gain insights on the latest regulations and most up to date information in an ever evolving, booming industry. As more and more states gear up for legalization, there is no end in sight for new business development. Join us and the industry's best as we dive deep into the world of cannabis and the trends impacting its growth.

Who Attends: Brokers, owners, developers, investors, construction, designers, architects, financial institutions, government officials and more!

Why You Should Attend: Bisnow events bring together the biggest power players in the industry to identify opportunities, build your network and expand your business. With the largest audience of commercial real estate professionals in the world, no one knows how to help your business more than us. Join Bisnow as we jump into the market to analyze its strengths and strategize on its areas of opportunity.

For questions, recommendations, comments, or press inquiries please email our Director of Northeast Events, Chris Picher at chris.picher@bisnow.com.

To request disability-related accommodations, please contact ellie.boyle@bisnow.com no later than seven business days prior to the event.

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Venue

@Ease 1345
1345 Avenue of the Americas
New York, New York 10105

Ballroom: Oasis Assembly
Floor: Concourse Level


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Agenda

Time Activity
2:00 PM
3:00 PM
Coffee, Breakfast & Networking
3:00 PM
3:45 PM
Macro Outlook: Challenges Facing the Cannabis Industry

1. Gain a better understanding of the legal and policy challenges facing the industry in New York & New Jersey.
2. What are the most important current or future policies that need to be implemented in New York for the cannabis industry to gain more momentum?

3:45 PM
4:30 PM
Funding & Investing in Cannabis' Growth

1. Closer look at the types of capital looking at cannabis funds and deals: debt funds, banks, other lenders.
2. What type of compliance constraints present challenges to acquire capital for cannabis deals or developments?

4:30 PM
5:15 PM
Managing Retail, Site Selection & Creating Compliant Spaces

1. Hear from top performing retailers on successes and challenges operations in-person locations.
2. What are the keys to finding new locations that are compliant while also being in a high-traffic areas?

5:15 PM
5:30 PM
Networking

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