Company shifts plans for new cannabis dispensary in Mundelein to different site

A company that last year proposed opening a cannabis dispensary in Mundelein has selected a different site within town for the operation.

Chicago-based Terrabis now wants to open a store in the former Bank of America at 3210 W. Route 60, in the Mundelein Crossings center on the village’s northwest side.

The company initially proposed taking over a former Rosati’s Pizza shop in the same shopping center.

Terrabis cofounder Nick Liaromatis presented the company’s revised concept during Monday night’s village board meeting.

“We remain excited about Mundelein,” Liaromatis said. “We remain committed to Mundelein.”

The roughly 4,620-square-foot former bank building is close to Route 60 on the western side of the Mundelein Crossings complex. Home Depot is the nearest anchor store.

Despite being vacant, the building is in good shape, Liaromatis said. It’s still equipped with a vault, a feature Illinois cannabis dispensaries must have for product security, he said.

Conversion into a dispensary will be “relatively easy” and won’t require facade changes other than cosmetic ones, Liaromatis said.

Terrabis operates eight dispensaries in Illinois and Missouri, with the nearest being in Woodstock and Plainfield. The company will not ask the village for any financial assistance, only a dispensary permit, said Stewart Weiss, an attorney representing Terrabis.

The village board has issued only one dispensary permit since cannabis sales were legalized in Illinois. It went to Rise, at 1325 Armour Blvd.

The board took no formal action on the Terrabis proposal Monday night. When Mayor Steve Lentz asked trustees how they felt about the plan, only one — Daniel Juarez — opposed it.

Juarez opposed the original Terrabis proposal last November, too, expressing concern about the site’s proximity to the Sheldon Woods neighborhood across Route 60.