DC's Newest Condo Amenity: A Marijuana Grow Closet

• October 22nd 2015

by Mark Wellborn

In late February, a law legalizing many aspects of marijuana went into effect in DC. Specifically, the law made it legal to possess a maximum of two ounces of marijuana, transfer up to one ounce to another person without any money changing hands, and grow a maximum of six marijuana plants in a home.

Many industries are now looking for ways to capitalize on the new law, and that includes condo developers.

Eric Hirshfield recently finished two, four-level condos that sit side-by-side on the 500 block of Kenyon Street NW. The units have features that buyers would expect of a new condo, like a gourmet kitchen, oak flooring, and marble baths.

However, in one of the units, Hirshfield added a feature that likely no other new condo in the city can boast: a grow closet for marijuana plants.

“The closet in the fifth bedroom was a little screwed up,” Hirshfield told UrbanTurf. “I thought ‘What can I do to make this a special closet?’”

Hirshfield had a plumber install drainage and a water supply, an HVAC system was put in to handle the exhaust, and an electrician installed a grow light. He staged it with tomato plants and herbs, but also included the Intitiaive 71 ballot, the measure that DC residents supported that resulted in the legal marijuana legislation.

While DC has changed their laws, marijuana is still illegal as far as the Federal government’s perspective, an issue that does not concern Hirshfield. “I don’t think the Feds are coming to bust this grow closet,” he said.

The unit is now under contract, but, alas, the new buyers will not be using the closet for its specific intended purpose. However, they will be using it to grow herbs.

“Between our love of cooking and having the outdoors indoors, plants always bring an added warmth,” one of the buyers told UrbanTurf. “Now we have a grow closet that we’ll use for winter gardening of culinary herbs and jump starting seedlings for our spring annuals.”

“It’s all good for fellow Washingtonians who use marijuana in their respective homes legally. We just can’t partake given our livelihoods.”

That won’t stop Hirshfield from working this unorthodox feature into his future projects.

“I plan to incorporate the grow closet into the design of most of my residential developments going forward.”

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/dcs_newest_condo_amenity_a_marijuana_grow_closet/10491.