How to Get a Dispensary Built in Minnesota
Minnesota’s cannabis industry is booming, and building a dispensary is your ticket to cashing in. As a leading cannabis designer in Minnesota, Grow America Builders knows the ins and outs of creating a compliant, customer-ready space. Here’s how to get your cannabis dispensary built in Minnesota—fast and right.
1. Secure Your License First
The Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) opened applications February 18-March 14, 2025. Retail dispensary licenses ($2,500 fee) are hot, with social equity applicants prioritized. Visit the OCM portal, submit your business plan, and prep for a potential lottery. No license, no build.
3. Design for Compliance
Minnesota demands tight security: cameras, alarms, and restricted access. Add odor control and a sleek layout for customers. Make sure your dispensary plans and specifications meet OCM rules and wow your clientele.
5. Launch and Thrive
During design, we always recommend to start working on marketing and SEO. You don’t want to open the doors but not have anyone know where you are, or that you’re open. Once built, stock up on inventory, get that ribbon cut and open those doors. You should be set up to succeed as soon as you open, and take advantage of the Minnesota cannabis market’s green rush.
2. Find the Perfect Spot
Location is everything for a cannabis dispensary builder in Minnesota. Minnesota state zoning laws ban dispensaries within 1,000 feet of schools or daycares. However, that can be modified on the local level, with some towns already reducing the restriction to 500 feet. Pick a high-traffic spot that’s OCM-compliant—our team in Minnesota can scout and verify.
4. Hire the Right Team
Design and Construction’s no joke—hire a cannabis dispensary builder who understands the requirements and nuances of a dispensary build out. The construction team should handle permits, and buildout, but most importantly should have a good handle on security and OCM regulations, ensuring your dispensary meets Minnesota’s strict standards. Timeframe? Expect 6-10 months post-license approval from design through turnkey construction.
Cannabis News – Active Dispensaries
How to Get a Cannabis Cultivation Facility Built
Growing cannabis in Minnesota starts with a top-notch facility that meets all OCM requirements and regulations. Here’s how to get your cannabis cultivation facility built in Minnesota with precision and profit in mind.
1. Grab Your Cultivation License
The Minnesota OCM’s 2025 window (February 18-March 14) offers cultivator licenses ($10,000 fee) and microbusiness options ($500). Social equity applicants lead the pack—apply online with a solid plan. Our cannabis builders in Minnesota can advise on scale.
3. Design for Yield and Compliance
Think climate control, lighting (LEDs), and irrigation. OCM mandates security (fences, cameras) and odor mitigation. When designing a facility for yield and compliance, the programming is most important. Programming a facility means designing for facility requirements, such as flower room canopy (how many plants), flower room sizes, bench sizes and layouts, how many dry rooms, cure rooms, vault size, trim rooms and sizes, will there be extraction on site, or maybe infusion? How many admin offices, is there space for locker rooms and showers? All of these programming details need to come into play when designing a cannabis cultivation facility in Minnesota.
5. Start Growing – But Commissioning First!
Post-build, install equipment and get cultivating, right? Not so fast. It’s dangerous to bring a single plant in the facility until an experienced engineer has commissioned the space – usually the design team who designed the cannabis cultivation facility. Commissioning is an overlooked yet important aspect of the project. Many operators will attempt to commission themselves or have their contractors commission without engineering oversight. The plants are too important to bring into the building without dialing in the systems. Engage the project engineer to assist the head grower with the commissioning of the system prior to bringing plants into the facility. And then, it’s time to start growing, but make sure it’s within your one-year OCM deadline.
2. Pick a Grow Site
Zoning’s key—rural or industrial zones work best, away from residential headaches. Minnesota’s climate means indoor grows dominate, primarily warehouse type buildings where you have more control over the internal environment. The most important part of starting a cannabis cultivation project is making sure the right site is selected. One mistake on due diligence and it could all be a waste of time. For instance, you may have the perfect building in terms of size and height, but substandard electric that either has no option to upgrade or economically impossible. Any cannabis cultivation facility should have a lengthy checklist and a thirty day due diligence period to ensure it meets the standard for a commercial cannabis cultivation facility that can grow at scale and meet all testing and OCM license requirements.
4. Build It Right
Construction takes 6-12 months, depending on size. Permits, power upgrades, HVACD, benching, lights – the items that are integral to growing cannabis are non-negotiable. It’s important to streamline the process, but not to cut any corners delivering a grow-ready space on time.
OCM Regulations Overview (March 2025)
Here’s some additional detail on the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) regulations in Minnesota as of March, 2025.
The OCM is the backbone of Minnesota’s cannabis rollout, tasked with licensing, regulating, and enforcing the state’s adult-use cannabis market under Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 342. Their expedited rulemaking process kicked into high gear in early 2025, with a public comment period closing February 12, 2025. Final rules are expected to be locked in by the end of Q1 2025 (late March), after a judge’s review and a 14-day veto window for Governor Tim Walz. These rules directly shape what cannabis builders in Minnesota (like Grow America Builders) need to nail down for dispensaries and grows.
- Licensing Timeline: The current application window (February 18-March 14, 2025) is wrapping up in five days—March 14. Lotteries for capped licenses (e.g., retailers, cultivators) are slated for May/June 2025, meaning approved builds can’t start until licenses are in hand.
- Facility Standards: Draft rules from July 2024 (updated post-comment period) mandate security (cameras, alarms, restricted access), odor control (ventilation systems), and waste disposal protocols. Dispensaries need customer-friendly layouts; cultivation facilities require precise climate control and canopy limits (e.g., 15,000 sq ft indoors for cultivators).
- Social Equity Focus: Priority goes to social equity applicants—veterans, past cannabis offenders, or high-poverty area residents—impacting who gets licenses first and where builds might cluster.
- Local Oversight: Cities can tweak zoning (e.g., 1,000 ft from schools for dispensaries) and add “time, place, manner” restrictions, so cannabis designers in Minnesota have to sync with both OCM and local regs.