Englewood Construction has started work on the renovation of a cannabis dispensary facility in Chicago for Custom Strains.

“The cannabis sector continues to boost commercial real estate and construction activity, particularly as more states legalize recreational marijuana use and cannabis firms work to establish their presence in those key markets,” said Bill Di Santo, president of Lemont, Illinois-based Englewood Construction. “We’ve translated our expertise partnering with national retail and restaurant brands on multi-market rollouts to our work with leading cannabis firms on dispensary and cultivation facilities as they expand their geographic footprint and enter new cities and states.”

Following Illinois’ legalization of recreational cannabis use and sales as of Jan. 1, 2020, Englewood Construction is working with existing medical cannabis dispensary, The Herbal Care Center, to renovate its facility to accommodate recreational sales through Custom Strains. Located in Chicago at 1301 S. Western Ave. in the Illinois Medical District, the Custom Strains dispensary will begin recreational sales later this spring. Chicago-based Studio ARQ is the project architect.

“There are some nuances between recreational and medical dispensaries, including different requirements and needs in terms of security, spaces for serving customers or patients, and storage,” said Di Santo. “With more states legalizing recreational sales, many of the medical operators we work with are turning to us to quickly retrofit their existing facilities to now accommodate both types of sales.”