City issues first pot shop business licence
The City of Vancouver issued Monday the first-ever business licence for a pot shop in the city’s history to operators of a marijuana dispensary that will soon open on West 10th Avenue in Point Grey.
Wealth Shop Society at suite 104-4545 West 10th Ave, which shares a parking lot with Safeway, is a new retail dispensary and did not have an existing location in Vancouver. As of Tuesday, it had not opened for business but had set up a website that gave some insight into how it would operate.
“We are out to reinvent how things are done,” said the website, noting Wealth Shop is now accepting applications to become a member. “Dispensaries have a bad name in Vancouver. We want to create an approachable, accessible and safe environment for all our members.”
The website claimed Wealth Shop only works with trusted suppliers that meet “our rigorous product safety, sustainable and health standards.”
Andreea Toma, the city’s chief licensing inspector, said Tuesday the society has met all of the city’s new rules to regulate a dispensary, including its staff undergoing criminal record checks and signing a “good neighbour agreement.”
Meanwhile, the city continues to issue $250 tickets to those pot shops that refused to close their doors last month. The shops were given six months to close or find another location and participate in the city’s business licence application process. As of Tuesday, 30 stores had complied, 61 remain open, 139 tickets have been issued and seven paid.
The federal government has said it will introduce legislation next spring to legalize marijuana.
–Mike Howell, Vancouver Courier
Lululemon founder loads up on Vancouver properties
Lululemon Athletica founder Chip Wilson’s family real estate company has been rapidly buying up property, primarily in East Vancouver, and plans to have a portfolio worth $1.5 billion within 10 years.
Five-year-old Low Tide Properties (LTP) already owns about $300 million worth of property, about 90 per cent of that in the City of Vancouver, said CEO Andrew Chang, who has been at the 10-employee company for about a year.
Most of the buying has been in Gastown, Strathcona and Mount Pleasant, although the company also has property at False Creek Flats, in Kitsilano and around Burrard Street and West 7th Avenue.
Future purchases will likely include real estate along Great Northern Way, Chang said.
Wilson’s Point Grey mansion, which is assessed at $63.8 million and is the most expensive home in B.C., is not part of LTP’s portfolio.
–Glen Korstrom, Business in Vancouver
