Opportunity Zone Magazine Opportunity Zone Magazine Volume 1, Issue 1 | Page 28

26
OPPORTUNITY ZONE MAGAZINE | VOLUME 1
•
ISSUE 1
Best Buds?
How OZ investors
Grew Fond of
Cannabis
By Opportunity Zone Magazine Staff
With a booming cannabis industry,
Opportunity Zones can offer strategic benefits for cannabis entrepreneurs.
O
n a dusty side-street a stone’s throw from Los Angeles’
bustling Fashion District, beneath a blue sky criss-crossed
with towering palm trees and tangled electrical wires,
stands a former textiles plant. There’s little to distinguish the low-
slung brick building from the graffiti-daubed zipper factories and
paper supplies warehouses that crowd the neighborhood — but
Jack Boyajian, CEO of development company Basecanna, dreams
of turning the run-down facility into a state-of-the-art cannabis
manufacturing and distribution hub that will generate 100 jobs and
$38 million in annual revenues.
That’s possible, Boyajian says, because the factory lies in one
of California’s 879 designated Opportunity Zones, making
it far easier for Basecanna to raise capital. Repurposing the
facility will cost about $8 million, of which Boyajian aims
to raise $5 million through a dedicated Opportunity Fund.
Already, OZ investors have poured more than $1 million into
the project, and Basecanna is eyeing similar projects in 11
other Opportunity Zones around the country.
“It’s a fantastic advantage,” Boyajian says. “It’s adding a small but
significant incremental benefit that’s helping us to attract capital.”
OPPORTUNITYZONEEXPO.COM