NOBO

NOBO is a multi-state cannabis retailer with dispensary locations across Michigan, including storefronts in Muskegon, Benton Harbor, Edwardsburg, and South Haven, plus operations in Illinois and Colorado. The Michigan footprint anchors a retail-first brand built around modern storefronts, structured menus, and a customer experience that looks more like specialty retail than the early years of the cannabis market.

The sale-leaseback we structured with NOBO follows the playbook we use for retail and consumer-facing operating businesses. Third Coast acquired the operating real estate at fair-market value and leased it back to NOBO on a long-term commitment, so the dispensary kept opening, the staff kept showing up, and the customer experience did not change. From the sidewalk, nothing about the building or its operations shifted on closing day. From NOBO’s balance sheet, the capital that had been tied up in the dirt and the walls of the storefront was now liquid, available to redeploy into the brand, the menu, and the next location.

Cannabis retail has its own real estate dynamics. State licensing tethers the operating business to a specific address, which makes long-term occupancy certainty especially valuable on the tenant side. We structured the lease around that reality, with a long primary term, renewal options, and rent levels designed to ride the seasonality and regulatory cadence of the cannabis category. NOBO gained occupancy certainty for the long run; Third Coast added a modern retail asset with a regional operating-business tenant to its commercial portfolio.

The NOBO deal is also a useful example of how sale-leaseback travels into newer retail categories. The structure does not depend on the asset class being industrial; it depends on the operator wanting their own capital working inside the business rather than locked in the building.