Earnings call transcript: Innovative Industrial Properties beats EPS in Q3 2025

Innovative Industrial Properties (IIPR) reported a third-quarter earnings per share (EPS) of $0.97, surpassing analyst expectations of $0.93, marking a 4.3% surprise. Despite a slight revenue miss, with $64.7 million reported against a forecast of $65.07 million, the company’s stock responded positively, rising 3.09% in after-hours trading.

Key Takeaways

• EPS of $0.97 exceeded forecasts by 4.3%, showcasing operational strength.
• Revenue fell slightly short at $64.7 million, a minor miss.
• Stock rose 3.09% post-earnings, reflecting investor confidence.
• Diversification into life sciences and potential cannabis regulatory changes are key strategic focuses.
• Approximately 20% of ABR is currently non-paying, posing a challenge.

Company Performance

Innovative Industrial Properties demonstrated resilience in Q3 2025, with a 3% increase in total revenues from the previous quarter. The company’s strategic diversification into life sciences, alongside its core cannabis operations, positions it well to capitalize on emerging market trends. Despite ongoing challenges, such as property repossessions and legal proceedings, the firm’s strong balance sheet and low debt levels underscore its robust financial health.

Financial Highlights

• Revenue: $64.7 million, up 3% from the previous quarter.
• Earnings per share: $0.97, beating forecasts by 4.3%.
• Adjusted Funds from Operations (AFFO): $48.3 million, or $1.71 per share.
• Liquidity: Nearly $80 million at the quarter’s end.

Earnings vs. Forecast

Innovative Industrial Properties’ EPS of $0.97 surpassed the predicted $0.93, marking a 4.3% surprise. However, revenue slightly missed the forecast of $65.07 million, coming in at $64.7 million, a -0.57% surprise. This mixed result highlights the company’s effective cost management despite minor top-line challenges.

Market Reaction

The stock price of Innovative Industrial Properties rose 3.09% in after-hours trading, closing at $51.02. This positive movement reflects investor optimism, driven by the EPS beat and strategic initiatives in life sciences, despite the slight revenue miss.

Outlook & Guidance

Looking forward, Innovative Industrial Properties expects its IQHQ portfolio to reach over 90% occupancy within the next 18 to 24 months. The company remains focused on its core cannabis operations while selectively investing in life sciences. Upcoming potential cannabis rescheduling could enhance operator credit profiles and expansion opportunities, offering a positive outlook for future growth.

Executive Commentary

Ben Regin, Chief Investment Officer, stated, "We believe the IQHQ portfolio, located in key AI and life science hubs in San Diego, San Francisco, and Boston, is well-positioned to capitalize on these trends." Alan Gold, Executive Chairman, emphasized the company’s commitment to supporting its tenant partners in the cannabis industry.

Risks and Challenges

• Ongoing legal proceedings and property repossessions could impact operations.
• Approximately 20% of ABR is currently non-paying, affecting cash flow.
• Market volatility in the cannabis sector could pose challenges.
• Potential regulatory changes and their impact on the black market remain uncertain.

Q&A

During the earnings call, analysts inquired about the company’s strategy for addressing non-paying tenants and its outlook on cannabis industry consolidation. Executives expressed optimism about potential regulatory changes and their impact on credit and expansion opportunities, while acknowledging the need to address existing operational challenges.

Full transcript - Innovative Industrial Properties (IIPR) Q3 2025:

Conference Operator: Good day and welcome to the Innovative Industrial Properties Inc. Q3 2025 earnings conference call. All participants will be in the listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal your conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today’s presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press star and then one on your touchtone phone. To withdraw your question, you may press star and then two. Please note that this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Eli Kanter. Thank you, and over to you.

Eli Kanter, Legal/Compliance Representative, Innovative Industrial Properties: Thank you for joining the call. Presenting today are Alan Gold, Executive Chairman; Paul Smithers, President and Chief Executive Officer; David Smith, Chief Financial Officer; and Ben Regin, Chief Investment Officer. Before we begin, I’d like to remind everyone that statements made during today’s conference call may be deemed forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Safe Harbor of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and actual results may differ materially due to a variety of risks, uncertainties, and other factors. Please refer to the documents filed by the company with the SEC, specifically the most recent reports on Form 10-K and 10-Q, which identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. We are not obligated to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

In addition, on today’s call, we will discuss certain non-GAAP financial information such as FFO, normalized FFO, and AFFO. You can find this information together with reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure in our earnings release issued yesterday, as well as in our 8-K filed with the SEC. I’ll now hand the call over to Alan. Alan.

Alan Gold, Executive Chairman, Innovative Industrial Properties: Thanks, Eli. Good morning, and thank you for joining our call. In the third quarter, we completed our initial investment into IQHQ, a premier life science real estate platform that enhanced the diversification of the company and is expected to provide significant earnings accretion for the benefit of IIP shareholders. The total investment was $105 million, including $100 million into a revolving credit facility and $5 million in preferred stock. Our remaining commitment of $165 million in preferred stock is expected to be funded in multiple tranches through the second quarter of 2027. In conjunction with this investment, we successfully closed on a new $100 million secured revolving credit facility to support our investment into IQHQ and further strengthen our balance sheet.

We were very pleased with the support of our largest lender in providing this facility, which we believe reflects continued confidence in our platform, balance sheet, and disciplined approach to growth and capital allocation. These transactions mark a significant step in our evolution and our return to growth as we diversify our portfolio beyond cannabis into the dynamic life science sector. We have strong conviction in the long-term fundamentals driving this industry, and we believe this strategic investment at this entry point positions us to deliver highly accretive returns to our shareholders. We believe in the value of our diversified portfolio across both cannabis and life science and the ability of our team to strengthen our platform and create long-term value for our shareholders. Now, with that, I’ll turn the call over to Paul. Paul.

Paul Smithers, President and Chief Executive Officer, Innovative Industrial Properties: Thanks, Alan, and welcome everyone. Our investment in IQHQ, together with the new credit facility, marks a meaningful step forward in executing on our strategy to return to growth while further diversifying and strengthening our portfolio. Expanding into life sciences positions us to capture long-term secular growth while complementing our established leadership in the regulated cannabis real estate market. We continue to actively maximize the value of our assets to drive growth and optimize performance, while at the same time, our investment in IQHQ provides an additional avenue for future growth. We believe this dual-track strategy will significantly enhance shareholder value and position IIP for sustained success across both industries. I’d like to provide a few specific updates on our progress within our portfolio. Receivership proceedings for Forefront Ventures are ongoing. We are engaged with the U.S.

receiver and bankruptcy trustee regarding the properties and related claims and are working closely with outside counsel to protect our legal interests and pursue our rights under the leases. Gold Flora remains in receivership. We remain in ongoing discussions with the receiver regarding the receivership and sale process. We will continue to monitor developments and provide updates as appropriate. With respect to PharmaCann, we are pleased to report that the judge in Illinois ruled in our favor in our dispute with PharmaCann, and we expect to regain possession of our Illinois property by year-end. Our efforts to also regain control of the properties located in New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania remain top priority. We continue to work closely with local counsel to pursue our rights and remedies under the leases and related guarantees, including monetary claims.

Because timing varies by state and depends on local jurisdictions, we are unable to provide a specific timeline at the moment. We remain focused on advancing these processes as efficiently as possible and will provide updates as developments occur. In September, we took back possession and control of the four California properties previously securing a loan totaled at $16.1 million, which we declared in default, and are evaluating options to maximize the value of these assets. Turning to federal developments impacting the cannabis industry, recent commentary from President Trump has reaffirmed that cannabis reform remains a priority at the federal level. His endorsement of medical cannabinoids, particularly for senior citizens, alongside references to the potential $64 billion in healthcare savings, signals growing political momentum for rescheduling cannabis to Schedule III, eliminating the burdensome 280E tax for operators.

We believe this shift will be a positive catalyst for the industry, unlocking broader access to capital and accelerating institutional participation, though we remain cautious on the likelihood and timing. We also see compelling demographic trends that reinforce the long-term opportunity in cannabis. Seniors, while currently underrepresented among cannabis users, are the fastest-growing consumer segment, with usage growing at a 9% five-year compounded annual growth rate, triple the rate of the broader adult population. Importantly, this cohort is more likely to rely on physician recommendations, and rescheduling could ease barriers for doctors to prescribe cannabis for conditions like pain, arthritis, and sleep disorders. Accounting for 35% of total drug spending, we believe increased adoption by seniors could drive meaningful incremental revenue for the industry and further validate cannabis as a mainstream therapeutic option. Finally, we are also pleased to share a significant legal update. Last month, the U.S.

Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit unanimously affirmed the district court’s dismissal of the federal securities class action brought against IIP and certain of our officers and directors. While we disagreed with the arguments of this class action since the very beginning, it is great to see our views validated by the courts. This outcome allows us to continue focusing on executing our strategy and delivering long-term value to our shareholders. I’d like to now turn the call over to Ben to discuss our leasing, disposition, and investment activity. Ben.

Ben Regin, Chief Investment Officer, Innovative Industrial Properties: Thanks, Paul. Within our cannabis portfolio, we’ve executed leases totaling 281,000 sq ft year-to-date across properties located in California and Michigan and taken advantage of capital recycling opportunities by selling two assets. We’re also closely monitoring the situations with our tenants that Paul described and are encouraged by the strong demand for our real estate and look forward to sharing additional updates in the future. Turning to IQHQ, we’re very excited about our return to growth. We closed on our initial $105 million investment with additional commitments of $165 million expected to be funded over time. We expect this investment to be highly accretive and positions us to capitalize on secular tailwinds. Just last month, Lila Sciences, an AI biotech company, leased 244,000 sq ft across two buildings at IQHQ’s Alewife Park asset in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The transaction represents one of the largest leases in the region since the beginning of the year and underscores the improving leasing momentum for IQHQ and continued demand for premier real estate assets. Overall, global spending on AI and pharma and biotech is projected to reach $3 billion in 2025 and $16.5 billion by 2034, reflecting a 27% CAGR. The use of AI can accelerate drug discovery and innovation, resulting in an associated increase in real estate needs, according to Cushman & Wakefield. We believe the IQHQ portfolio, located in key AI and life science hubs in San Diego, San Francisco, and Boston, is well-positioned to capitalize on these trends, and within our investment pipeline, we will continue to selectively pursue assets in the cannabis and life science industries, focusing on the highest quality investments with the most attractive risk-adjusted returns for our shareholders.

I’ll now turn the call over to David.

Eli Kanter, Legal/Compliance Representative, Innovative Industrial Properties: Thank you, Ben. For the third quarter, we generated total revenues of $64.7 million, a 3% increase compared to the prior quarter. This increase was primarily due to a payment of $0.8 million we received from the Gold Flora receivership, along with annual rent escalations in our portfolio. Adjusted funds from operations for the quarter totaled $48.3 million, or $1.71 per share, representing no change from the second quarter results. Our balance sheet remains strong, supported by $2.7 billion in primarily unencumbered gross assets and a low-leverage capital structure. We ended the quarter with nearly $80 million in liquidity, including cash on hand and availability under our credit facility.

As Paul and Alan noted earlier, subsequent to quarter-end, we secured a second revolver with a federally regulated bank for $100 million, reflecting our view that as we diversify into a new sector, it should increase IIP’s access to attractively priced bank financing. The new revolving credit facility, secured by our IQHQ investment, was structured at favorable terms of SOFR plus 200 basis points, or 6.1% on the closing date of the facility, and includes an accordion feature that could expand capacity to $135 million, subject to additional bank commitments. This facility, combined with our low-leverage capital structure and strong liquidity, ensures we have ample flexibility to fund future growth.

Our investment in IQHQ is expected to be highly accretive, with a blended interest rate exceeding 14%, or roughly 800 basis points higher than the current pricing on the new credit facility, and aligns with our commitment to delivering strong risk-adjusted returns for our shareholders. As always, we remain focused on maintaining a conservative financial profile while pursuing strategic opportunities that drive long-term value, highlighted by a low debt-to-gross assets ratio of 13% and a robust debt service coverage ratio exceeding 11 times. On the capital markets front, during the quarter, we opportunistically issued 246,000 shares of our preferred stock for total net proceeds of $5.9 million. Looking ahead, we are actively evaluating our capital structure and having ongoing discussions regarding our bonds maturing next year to proactively address this maturity in the near term.

We will continue to explore a range of strategic financing alternatives that align with our long-term growth objectives and conservative financial philosophy. With that, we thank you for joining the call and would like to open up the call for questions. Operator, could you please open up the call for questions?

Conference Operator: Thank you. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. To ask a question, you may press Star and then 1 on your touch-tone phone. If you’re using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. If at any time your question has been addressed and you would like to withdraw your question, please press 2. Please press Star and 2. At this time, we will pause momentarily to assemble our roster. We have the first question from the line of Tom Catherwood from BTIG. Please go ahead.

Tom Catherwood, Analyst, BTIG: Thank you, and good morning, everybody. I wanted to start with a dividend question, but from a different perspective. So the way we see it, there are two near-term catalysts that can help bridge the gap from the $1.71 per share of AFFO that you did in Q3 to the $1.90 of quarterly dividend. The first is, as you guys have spoken about, the IQHQ investment, which we think kind of conservatively can contribute, let’s call it, $0.11 per share on a cash basis when it’s fully deployed. And the second is your signed but not commenced backfill leases. And we think those can contribute something in the range of $0.11-$0.15 a share per quarter. So regarding that second bucket, what are your expectations for the timing of rent commencements at your re-leased assets, and how does that timing factor into the company’s dividend policy?

Alan Gold, Executive Chairman, Innovative Industrial Properties: Well, I mean, so, I’m not sure that I follow your math exactly. I mean, I think we might have a little bit different perspective on the IQHQ investment, but we’ll take that offline and deal with that separately. As to the timing of the rent commencements on unleased assets or assets that we’re going to be getting back, keeping in mind that the Gold Flora assets is going through a receivership in which the receiver, as Paul has mentioned, has awarded the opportunity to an entity that would be closing on the transaction and then paying rent on the facilities that it intends to use, leaving the remaining, if there are any remaining assets for us available to release. And we believe the timing on receiving income on that would be rather quickly given the level of interest that we’ve seen from those assets or that portfolio.

As to Gold Flora or as to Forefront, once again, going through a receivership and with an intent of seeking a buyer to purchase the entity and then continue forward, we think once that is completed, the revenue would be immediate or very quickly after the completion of the receivership, which could be another, Paul, what would you estimate?

Paul Smithers, President and Chief Executive Officer, Innovative Industrial Properties: On Forefront. It could be another three to nine months.

Alan Gold, Executive Chairman, Innovative Industrial Properties: Right. And then on PharmaCann, which is, I think, just a positive statement on the industry in general, we’re seeing continued interest and increasing interest on those specific assets and in the individual states. And while we’re pleased to be getting through the legal side of the Illinois transaction, we believe that there is interest from interested parties to take over that facility. We’ve just been stymied because of the courts to be engaging with those players. And now, with the positive reaction from the court to our pleadings, we believe that we’ll have significant interest and be able to get revenue starting in the six to nine-month timeframe.

Tom Catherwood, Analyst, BTIG: Okay.

Paul Smithers, President and Chief Executive Officer, Innovative Industrial Properties: Okay. So I’m sorry. Let me let Paul finish with it.

Yeah. Just some additional thoughts, Tom. I think as far as the litigation. Get a trial date. And as we reported, we had a favorable outcome in Illinois. I think Pennsylvania and Ohio will be next in line by either a trial or summary judgment, and at some point, New York after that. So we are getting much closer to resolution of those matters. And I also want to add that in the bankruptcy cases involving Forefront and Gold Flora, our back rent and rent owed to us is considered an administrative claim in the receivership process. So once the receivership is concluded, we should receive significant funds by way of administrative claim. And again, that is. Gold Flora is sooner than Forefront, but we’ll continue to report on the timing on those.

Tom Catherwood, Analyst, BTIG: That’s great. So that was really helpful. And just kind of to add to that, there’s a couple other leases that you signed since the end of 2023. So these are like the re-leasing you did with Mint Extracts or Loom Cannabis, Try Mountain Pure, and Berry Green, kind of all the backfills that were already done. For that run rate that you had this quarter, that $1.71, how many of those leases have commenced in that run rate this quarter, and how many are still left to commence kind of near-term?

Ben Regin, Chief Investment Officer, Innovative Industrial Properties: Hey, Tom. This is Ben. Yeah. I think. It’s pretty minimal for the third quarter. I think just as a general statement. When we sign a lease, there’s sometimes a licensing process. Ramp-up of operations, kind of various things that impact when that revenue starts. But just to echo what Alan and Paul said, I think we’ve been very pleased with the leasing success. We’re very optimistic about the demand we’re seeing really across all assets that are going through the various kind of legal processes. So timing is a little more difficult to peg, but again, very encouraged by the demand that we’re seeing really across the portfolio.

Tom Catherwood, Analyst, BTIG: Okay. But just to clarify, Ben, so those ones that I mentioned, the ones that you had backfilled over the past two years, you said it was a de minimis contribution to 3Q, so there’s still more of that to roll in. Is that correct?

Ben Regin, Chief Investment Officer, Innovative Industrial Properties: Yeah. I mean, Tom, on that side, there was a slight benefit, but I would say de minimis this quarter as those leases come online and ramp up.

Alan Gold, Executive Chairman, Innovative Industrial Properties: To ramp up in the fourth quarter and beyond.

Tom Catherwood, Analyst, BTIG: Perfect. Perfect. All right. And then the last one for me, in terms of the balance sheet, as we think through sources and uses over the next six months, you obviously mentioned the prepared remarks, the new $100 million revolver, which kind of can continue to support your ongoing investment in IQHQ. For the unsecured bonds that mature in May, what are the specific options or kind of avenues that you’re currently pursuing, and what is your expectation in terms of timing and getting to a resolution on those?

Alan Gold, Executive Chairman, Innovative Industrial Properties: Well, I mean, I think the options are very clear. We’re either going to refinance them or we’re going to refinance them. I think that’s what we’re—that’s our options right now. We believe that we have a very strong and affirmed rating from Egan-Jones and continue to believe that we have a very, very strong balance sheet, one of the strongest in REIT land. And we believe that investors will recognize the strength of our balance sheet and the fact that we have executed on our promise to pay on the bonds for the last four and a half or 4.3 years. And we believe we have sufficient time to work through the refinancing as is in the first quarter.

Paul Smithers, President and Chief Executive Officer, Innovative Industrial Properties: Correct. Yep.

Tom Catherwood, Analyst, BTIG: Okay. So that was perfect, Alan. So timing-wise, we should just kind of expect to get to the end of that process in the first quarter of 2026, correct?

Alan Gold, Executive Chairman, Innovative Industrial Properties: That is. The plan that we have on the table today.

Tom Catherwood, Analyst, BTIG: Perfect. That’s it for me. Thanks, everyone.

Ben Regin, Chief Investment Officer, Innovative Industrial Properties: Thanks, Tom.

Conference Operator: Thank you. We have the next question from the line of Aaron Grey from Alliance Global Partners. Please go ahead.

Hi. Thank you for the questions. So first one for me, just on potential impact of rescheduling. I know it’s been talked about in the past. I just wanted to revisit it again because in terms of direct impact, it would seem better cash and stabilizing your existing base of tenants, so maybe less worry of incremental defaults. But how do you think about potential opportunities for growth and more uses for acquisitions and new tenants? Is it less so dependent on rescheduling and more so dependent on additional states coming online? Just want to give you a broader outlook on cannabis given the supply demand that we’ve seen in a lot of the existing states, the appetite that you’re seeing for potential additional cultivation, or if that’s more so dependent on new states versus rescheduling there. Thank you.

Alan Gold, Executive Chairman, Innovative Industrial Properties: Yeah. No, I think as we alluded to earlier in our comments, that we’re really seeing some really positive interest in our facilities that we have in the states when we do have facilities. So we’re seeing continued interest by the existing growers in those states who have maybe survived or, as you want to say, we think that the consolidation phase of this market of the cannabis industry seems to have worked through the majority of that consolidation and that the most efficient growers and companies in that industry have survived and are continuing to look to consolidate, but grow their focus in the individual states that they’re in. So we’re seeing that positive green shoot there without the rescheduling occurring. And we believe that that will continue to build over time.

And as it builds over time, we are absolutely best positioned to take advantage of any new demand for the sale lease-back program that we continue to offer to the market and to use our capital for the benefit of IIPR shareholders. Now, Paul, I mean, do you want to add anything with regards to the rescheduling and what you think how the impact might be for our tenants?

Paul Smithers, President and Chief Executive Officer, Innovative Industrial Properties: Sure. So I think we’ve, Aaron, in the past discussed what rescheduling would look like and how that helps. And I think you identified it that I think the first real impact is really improving the credit of the operators. They had just much more free cash to use. So that improves their credit as far as our tenant base, but also gives them the opportunity to use that cash to expand. And so much of our development is our operators expanding the existing facilities, coming to us for additional investment. So we think that’s certainly a possibility or likelihood, I think, with rescheduling. And as we noted in our remarks, that there is this kind of up and down enthusiasm about rescheduling.

Now we’re in a place where some really positive comments have come out of the White House, both by the president and the president’s staff that said, "We expect a resolution on the rescheduling by the end of this year," which means what, two months now. So we are anxiously awaiting that. We do believe that it makes sense for the president to get ahead of this issue politically, and he is motivated that way. And his comments about CBD usage for the elderly and things of that nature that he’s posted really give a lot of momentum to having some resolution. And we think it would be a positive resolution on rescheduling, hopefully by the end of the year.

Conference Operator: Really appreciate that, Carter. That was helpful there.

Paul Smithers, President and Chief Executive Officer, Innovative Industrial Properties: Yeah.

Conference Operator: So then in the near term, right, so before we see rescheduling, you talked about potential opportunities for both life sciences and as well as cannabis. How should we think about prioritizing in the near term and given your current liquidity position? Does life science offer more near-term opportunities given what we just saw with IQHQ and the rate you’re able to get on the revolver? Assuming that’s related to obviously, it’s related to the IQHQ and a much better rate than you had from the other revolver related to the cannabis. So does absent rescheduling, do you see more opportunities in the life sciences for the near term, or do you still see even absent rescheduling equal opportunity within both? Thank you.

Alan Gold, Executive Chairman, Innovative Industrial Properties: Yeah. No, I think we are highly focused on the cannabis industry. And making sure that we are supporting our tenant partners as best we can. And we believe that that’s our primary focus. Secondarily, do I think that there are more double-digit plus yield opportunities in the life science industry? We are constantly looking at that. But I think that that was a very unique opportunity that we were able to capitalize based on our expertise and knowledge. And we will continue to look at that, but I think our primary focus will remain in the cannabis industry.

Conference Operator: Okay. Great. Thanks for the call. I’ll jump back in the queue.

Ben Regin, Chief Investment Officer, Innovative Industrial Properties: Thank you, Aaron.

Conference Operator: Thank you. We have the next question from the line of Michael Corkery from Roth Capital Partners. Please go ahead.

Michael Corkery, Analyst, Roth Capital Partners: Thank you, everybody. So the press release mentioned, I think, a few new names where you’re collecting security deposits. One was named. The other is unnamed in Sacramento. Can you give us a sense for size on those? What do you expect the outcome to be? And were those two identified when you went through that tenant health work that you did earlier in the year?

Alan Gold, Executive Chairman, Innovative Industrial Properties: Yes. With one or less than 1% of our revenue. And we’re monitoring all of our tenants. And we spent time with those tenants and understood what was going on with them. Ben, do you have any color associated with those two tenants or anything you want to add to that?

Ben Regin, Chief Investment Officer, Innovative Industrial Properties: Yeah. I would just add to those were two tenants in California, and I think this is a theme maybe we’ve seen in many markets where the growth and expansion of the efficient operators and the demand that we’re seeing for these facilities, along with some of the other vacancies that we’ve taken back, really reflects the consolidation that we’re seeing play out in the industry and the less efficient operators moving out and the more efficient operators continuing to grow their platforms within these individual markets. I feel very good about the quality of those assets along with the rest of our portfolio, which I think is reflected again in the amount of interest that we’re seeing really across the board.

Michael Corkery, Analyst, Roth Capital Partners: Thank you. And with the additional square footage leased at IQHQ with biosciences, what does that take occupancy to at IQHQ? And ultimately, kind of where do you expect occupancy to go? Maybe how long does it take to get there? And what capital do you think is required to get that occupancy rate up further?

Alan Gold, Executive Chairman, Innovative Industrial Properties: Well, I mean, I think that’s. I mean, IQHQ is a private organization. That’s really there for them. From our perspective, what we can say is that the occupancy level approaches that 24%-25% level and that we certainly hope that they can take occupancy up to the 90-plus% range in the next, I guess, 18 to 24 months.

Michael Corkery, Analyst, Roth Capital Partners: Okay. Thank you.

Conference Operator: Thank you. We have the next question from the line of Alexander Goldfarb from Piper Sandler. Please go ahead.

Alexander Goldfarb, Analyst, Piper Sandler: Hey. Good morning out there. So just big picture, I think at the end of last year, you had 27% of ABR that was in default. It sounds like you signed some. New sounds like you signed some backfills. You’re working on some resolution and receivership, but there were some new tenants, including the $16 million loan that went bad. So net, as a % of ABR, where do we now stand as far as % of ABR that’s not rent-paying? I’m not saying occupying space but not rent. I’m talking how much ABR is still not rent-paying. Where do we stand now?

Ben Regin, Chief Investment Officer, Innovative Industrial Properties: I mean, Alex, obviously, since we announced that last December, I mean, some things have moved around too. We’ve taken some properties back from PharmaCann. But from kind of an overall ABR collection, there’s roughly 20%.

Paul Smithers, President and Chief Executive Officer, Innovative Industrial Properties: Okay. So, David, so we’re now at. We were 27. We’re now 20. And that 20 includes the impact of the latest tenants in the third quarter and the $16 million loan.

Ben Regin, Chief Investment Officer, Innovative Industrial Properties: That’s correct. Keep in mind, as Alan mentioned before, those two tenants during the quarter were very small, 1%, so kind of immaterial to the overall portfolio. But you’re roughly correct.

Paul Smithers, President and Chief Executive Officer, Innovative Industrial Properties: Okay. That’s cool. That’s cool. And then on the. Obviously, we all appreciate your background in life science. Alan, you co-founded and were there through December at IQHQ. And there’s a deep history. But you look at both industries, cannabis. There’s still issues going on, tenants having struggles. The Alexandria, the only pure-play REIT out there in life science, still has issues. BXP talks about life science issues. So we understand the quality of the balance sheet now, but it definitely seems like their potential capital needs for both cannabis and if something happens senior to you at IQHQ, and you have to defend your position there to defend your stake. So. It’s still unclear the risk of going into IQHQ just given life science is not out of the woods. I would get it if things were blowing and going and.

A lot of activity was going on in that space, but it still seems like it’s pretty troubled. So just how do we balance the capital needs of both industries when even in cannabis, you’re still having some tenant issues?

Alan Gold, Executive Chairman, Innovative Industrial Properties: Yeah. I mean, I think, first of all, we didn’t make the investment so that we would have to defend the investment. We made the investment such that we were in a very strong credit position. And the only. It’s the common shareholders at IQHQ and/or the other investors who have to really defend and really are focused on defending that business. So that’s not our role or our responsibility, number one. Number two is we maintain a very strong balance sheet, a very conservative balance sheet that allows us, as we’ve just proven, to be able to get additional credit from our bank group and at a very attractive yield. So we still have that and continue to have great access to a variety of capital sources. Yeah. Number three is that I know you guys want to.

You want the companies to only invest when it’s absolutely clear that the gold ring is right in front of them and they can easily grab it. But our job is to try to look around the corner, to try to look for unique investment opportunities that provide attractive, accretive returns to our shareholders. And we’ve done just that. And if in three years or four years, you come back on the call and you want to ask about how IQHQ and that investment went, I’ll be happy to report exactly how that investment went.

Paul Smithers, President and Chief Executive Officer, Innovative Industrial Properties: Okay. And just the final question is, Paul, over the years, there have been a lot of hopeful things happening in cannabis that this measure, this state legalizing, or this rescheduling, and that would almost be like the panacea, and now the sector would catch traction. Obviously, appreciate your comments on giving us an update of what’s going on with the rescheduling, the eagerness of seniors to adopt cannabis. But every time that we’ve heard positive stuff before, it hasn’t jump-started the industry. So is your view that these positives could jump-start the industry, or your view is, "Hey, these are positives that are out there, but there’s still the issue of the gray market. There’s still the issue of the black market. There’s still all those other." I guess I’m just trying to understand.

Should we get excited that there’s good stuff coming, or it’s like, "Hey, these are positives, but there’s still a lot of negatives that the industry is still dealing with, namely the gray market and the black market"?

Ben Regin, Chief Investment Officer, Innovative Industrial Properties: Yeah. Yeah, Alex. And obviously, rescheduling doesn’t make the black market go away. Those are two separate things that need to be separately addressed. With rescheduling, I think that will be a huge shot in the arm to the industry for the reasons we’ve discussed in great detail. At the same time, I think we’ve seen some real positive movement on state-by-state combating black market. It’s not fixed by any means, but it’s getting much more attention, I think, in the larger states. You’ve seen California and Massachusetts and Michigan, especially, some really significant, and New York, now that I think about it, some real significant movement in curtailing the black market growth, but also the gray market retail. And I know you and I have discussed this in New York, the actual physical walkouts of the retail. So.

Paul Smithers, President and Chief Executive Officer, Innovative Industrial Properties: Yes. Yes.

Ben Regin, Chief Investment Officer, Innovative Industrial Properties: We’re going in the right direction on that.

Paul Smithers, President and Chief Executive Officer, Innovative Industrial Properties: Okay. Great. Thank you, Paul. Thank you, Alan.

Ben Regin, Chief Investment Officer, Innovative Industrial Properties: All right. Thank you, Alex.

Conference Operator: Thank you. This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn the conference back to Alan Gold for any closing remarks.

Alan Gold, Executive Chairman, Innovative Industrial Properties: Thank you. And I thank you all for joining today. Again, I’d like to thank our team for the hard and good work that they’ve done. And with that, we conclude the call.

Conference Operator: Thank you. The conference is now concluded. Thank you for attending today’s presentation. You may now disconnect.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.