A medical marijuana shop in Lee’s Summit, Mo. is both a business and commercial real estate success.
The 3rd Street Dispensary opened in January 2021 after about a year of planning and renovation that saved a commercial property that had been vacant for two years. The building initially went up in 1969 as a Griff’s Hamburgers outlet and more recently housed the iconic Shanghi Boy restaurant.
“We tried to keep the original character in the renovation,” said Cheryl Annen, who co-founded the business with Mark Westhues, director of operations.
“The biggest challenge was in meeting the licensing requirements for this new type of business. We were nervous about a license because (allocations) went by Congressional district, which was very competitive,” Annen said.
Going through the (Lee’s Summit) city council for operating hours and signage was also a factor in the process, unlike more-familiar or traditional commercial real estate projects.
“There wasn’t an ordinance for our type of business, so for the city to do its own research was a big help,” said Annen.
Another major concern was the notion of the city or its neighbors rejecting the business while the renovation was underway,
“We started promoting it via Facebook and other outlets to assure the community that we would not just be another head shop,” Annen said.
They presented the business as being “focused on educating both patients and the public on the health benefits of the medicinal use of marijuana,” and those efforts paid off.
“There’s been nothing but gratitude for fixing up a building that had been vacant for two years,” Annen said.
The renovation took about a year with the assistance of local firms Collins | Webb Architecture and Wolf21 contractors.
“Sam (Collins) and Roger (Webb) did an amazing job of keeping the our building’s bones and story while transforming it into a warm and modern dispensary,” Annen said.
The lobby provides a secure check-in area for customers. The space features a secure retail floor with custom kitchen-island-like work stations for consultations.
Living up to the “location, location, location” mantra for a commercial real estate venture, 3rd Street Dispensary is positioned perfectly between the highway and downtown Lee’s Summit. It also fulfills the legal requirement that a medical marijuana business be at least 1,000 feet away from any daycare center, church or school.
“Our customers are our neighbors and the surrounding rural communities,” Annen said.
Current service is in-person, onsite — even with the pandemic. The new business is close to going digital and patrons should soon be able to order online and pick up products in person.
“We plan for delivery within a 10-mile radius of the store,” Annen said.
Although that could be complicated. Missouri law states that all products have to be paid for before they leave the store - which could be handled by credit card payments. The owners plan to implement appropriate payment requirements to suffice the regulations.
3rd Street Dispensary is located at 510 SW 3rd Street in Lee’s Summit; 816-392-8920; information is also available at https://www.3rdstreet dispensary.com.