Would-be medical marijuana dispensary eyes Bartlett industrial site

What could be a suburban chain of medical marijuana retailers has already starting leasing a storefront in Bartlett, its CEO says.

The businessmen behind Suburban Wellness LLC have made a risky bet, locking in the 1,490-square-foot space, before knowing whether they can even open their doors and sell the drug.

That's because the company's future rests with state regulators who had pledged to issue up to 60 retail permits by the end of 2014. Former Gov. Pat Quinn left office last week without awarding any, leaving applicants, their investors and patients in limbo.

"We've followed all the steps," says Neil Khot, the CEO of Suburban Wellness. "We feel that we were misled when we were supposed to hear back at the end of the year."

On Tuesday night, Bartlett trustees had planned to review the startup's bid for a village permit to set up shop in the Brewster Creek industrial park at 1281 Humbracht Circle. Instead, the company asked the village to put its application "on hold indefinitely."

Khot, a Hoffman Estates entrepreneur with a background in IT, said he didn't want to "unnecessarily trouble the village" until the state makes a decision.

It would have marked the first time the village board weighed in on a dispensary hopeful. So far, trustees have agreed to grant a permit to a cultivator who gets a state license to grow medical marijuana, also in Brewster Creek.

Still, Trustee Michael Camerer asked village staff members to explore whether Bartlett can regulate dispensaries that would offer other products and services, say, yoga classes, for instance. He also voiced safety concerns with retailers, many of them planning to operate as all-cash businesses.

"We need to set the direction that we're going with this," he said.