Mundelein cannabis dispensary would triple in size under expansion plan
The Rise cannabis dispensary in Mundelein would more than triple in size under a proposed expansion plan.
Owned by Chicago-based Green Thumb Industries, Rise operates in a roughly 4,000-square-foot building at 1325 Armour Blvd. The chain has 31 stores in nine states, and the Mundelein dispensary is the highest-volume shop, according to its website.
The company wants to expand the store to include a vacant, 10,000-square-foot building just south of Rise at 1570 Baskin Road and build a connection between the two structures.
If the project progresses, the resulting building will be more than 14,700 square feet, Mundelein Planner Colleen Malec said.
Bolchazy Carducci Publishers was the last tenant at the Baskin Road address. It relocated to Wauconda.
If approved, the expanded store will have more points of sale for customers and staff, said Tom Burney, Green Thumb's attorney, during a village planning and zoning commission meeting this week.
A construction timetable wasn't immediately available, but Malec said company officials have requested a building permit and hope to break ground as soon as possible.
The only potential obstacle for the expansion concerns parking.
Under the formula used to determine how many spaces a business must have, the proposed expanded facility would need 86 spaces in a paved and striped lot, village documents indicate. But the company's plans call for only 59 spaces.
Rise leases a gravel lot across the street for additional parking. A village-issued permit for that operation expires in October.
Paving the lot isn't an option, documents indicate.
The company has requested a temporary extension of that permit through October 2022. The extension will give the company more time to study the cannabis market and develop an alternative parking plan.
After a lengthy discussion, the planning and zoning commission recommended approval of that extension - but no further. The village board will consider the request April 26.
Rise has operated in Mundelein since 2015, first as a medical marijuana dispensary called the Clinic. It became Rise shortly before expanding to recreational customers in January 2020 and is the only dispensary in Lake County.