LINCOLN SQUARE — A cannabis dispensary near the heart of Lincoln Square is one step closer to reality.
Botavi Wellness is seeking to open at the storefront that was formerly Core Power Yoga, 2301 W. Lawrence Ave. The City Council signed off on a key zoning change for the business Wednesday.
This is Botavi’s first dispensary and its owners are partnering with Justice Cannabis, which has more than 10 dispensaries in eight states.
Jonathan Loevy, a civil rights attorney and one of the principals for Botavi, helped launch Justice Cannabis in 2014.
Botavi is among the slate of companies conditionally approved for a state cannabis license after the lottery in August.
But like several other dispensaries that have gotten city approval, Botavi cannot sign a 10-year lease and move into the 6,585-square-foot store pending the resolution of a lawsuit challenging the fairness of the state’s process to dole out cannabis licenses.
The dispensary also will need a special use permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals, attorney John J. George said at a committee meeting Tuesday.
Mitchell Zaveduk, a Botavi principal and Justice Cannabis Company’s national director of Real Estate and Existing Property, said in February the dispensary could open six or seven months after getting approved.
“This is going to be one of our flagship dispensaries in Chicago. This will be our biggest dispensary, by size, in the city of Chicago,” Zaveduk said.
Justice Cannabis has operated a cultivation site near Effingham, Illinois, since 2017 which would serve the Lincoln Square dispensary, Zaveduk said. There will eventually be 10 dispensaries served by that cultivation site, he said.
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