Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Rauner: Mandera's Medical Marijuana Dispensary a Top Pick, But Needs Review

By Stephanie Lulay | February 2, 2015 8:12pm
 Businessman Perry Mandera's Fulton Street dispensary is on hold for now, but is one of Gov. Bruce Rauner's top picks as he issued the first round of medical marijuana licenses in the state.
Businessman Perry Mandera's Fulton Street dispensary is on hold for now, but is one of Gov. Bruce Rauner's top picks as he issued the first round of medical marijuana licenses in the state.
View Full Caption
DNAinfo/Stephanie Lulay

WEST LOOP — A proposed West Loop medical marijuana dispensary owned by a Chicago strip club owner and trucking executive is on the state's top list for licenses, but Gov. Bruce Rauner has placed a hold on the license for now.

Rauner unexpectedly approved a series of licenses and permits to grow and sell marijuana in the state of Illinois late Monday — including in some Chicago neighborhoods. But the Fulton Market dispensary, and applications in four other districts, are up in the air, pending further review, according to the Governor's office.  

Businessman Perry Mandera, who owns VIP's, a Gentlemen's Club on the Near North Side, plans to open Custom Strains, a medical marijuana dispensary in a vacant building at 1105 W. Fulton St.

 A second West Loop dispensary group a group applied to operate at 955 W. Lake St. in the West Loop was not awarded a state license.
A second West Loop dispensary group a group applied to operate at 955 W. Lake St. in the West Loop was not awarded a state license.
View Full Caption
DNAinfo/Stephanie Lulay

Rauner did award a state license to another group in the West Township district: Professional Management LLC, a group that plans to open at clinic at 1368 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Wicker Park. A pharmacy and arcade bar neighbor the site.

The hold for review on the Fulton Market dispensary could be good news for Mandera. Rauner's team could have bypassed Mandera's application completely, awarding the second license in the district to any one of the other eight applicants.

Last week, DNAinfo Chicago reported that Mandera's application to operated the Fulton Market dispensary likely would have been approved earlier if Gov. Pat Quinn would have acted on issuing licenses as planned. Mandera's application was one of the two top-scoring proposals in the city's West Township district.

A spreadsheet showed that Quinn's officials may have also had reservations about awarding the license to Mandera. Next to the high score, under a column titled "issues," reads: "Hold. Perry Mandera."

State rules call for two licenses to be awarded in each district, and a total of 13 in Chicago city limits.

In October, a handful of Fulton Market business owners said they were against Mandera's plan to open a medical marijuana dispensary in the neighborhood.

A second West Loop proposal submitted by Green Thumb Industries-West Loop Medical's Ben Kovler scored seventh out of the district's 10 proposals under Quinn, and wasn't awarded a license under Rauner Monday.

Kovler's team aimed to open a dispensary called The Clinic West Loop at 955 W. Lake St. The site currently houses a graphics company.

For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here: