LOGAN SQUARE — Logan Square neighbors will get a chance on Wednesday to weigh in on a plan that would bring a cannabis dispensary to an old bank building on Milwaukee Avenue.
PharmaCann, a Chicago-based weed company that operates in multiple states, is looking to open a dispensary in the Logan Square Trust & Savings Bank building at 2551 N. Milwaukee Ave.
A community meeting on the proposal is set for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Minnekirken Church, 2614 N. Kedzie Ave.
PharmaCann representatives will be at the meeting to answer questions and receive feedback. The meeting is being hosted by Ald. Scott Waguespack’s 32nd Ward office in accordance with city policy. All proposed dispensaries require a community meeting.
Licensed to grow in eight states, PharmaCann is considered a major player in the industry. The company currently runs cultivation centers and dispensaries in the Chicago suburbs.
In November, PharmaCann won a total of three spots in the city’s recreational cannabis lottery: Two in the central cannabis zone and one in the northwest zone.
It submitted applications to open a dispensary in the bank building in January.
Jeremy Unruh, director of public and regulatory affairs at PharmaCann, previously told Block Club that PharmaCann was drawn to Logan Square because it’s a “notoriously hip, vibrant community that showcases some of the best in the multi-cultural landscape in Chicago.”
The bank building PharmaCann is looking to move into was built in 1922 for Logan Square Trust & Savings Bank. The Logan Square Medical Institute and pharmacy took over the building in 1970 and operated there until the owners sold the building in 2016.
The new owners, Mike Hagenson and Adam Saffro of the development and property management firm New Era Chicago, renovated the building and carved out six “artsy lofts” on the upper floors and retail space on the ground floor. The lofts rent for between $2,200 – $3,100 a month.
The dispensary would be located on the first floor of the building, according to Hagenson and Paul Sajovec, Waguespack’s chief of staff.
The building was being considered as the Double Door’s new home, but that plan fell through after neighbors voiced opposition.
“We really tried to make the Double Door deal work and everyone wanted it on our team and the Double Door’s team, and we were really hopeful and cautiously optimistic that it’d work for a lot of reasons. But we just weren’t getting the support we needed from the community,” Saffro previously said.
The dispensary plan is still a long way from reality. PharmaCann needs special use approval from the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals. The zoning change ordinance must then be approved by the city’s Zoning Committee and the full City Council.
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