The northernmost neighborhood of Jersey City could be getting their first cannabis lounge as a company has applied to bring a new dispensary and consumption facility to The Heights.
Back in May, plans were submitted to transform a property at 36 Congress Street. The building, home to the K-1 Supermarket, starts at the intersection with Palisade Avenue Home and continues down Congress Street until the storefront occupied by The Cliff.
The address is locally famous for the retro “lowe-t prices” ghost sign that adorns the Congress Street side of the building. Just two blocks from the Congress/9th Street Light Rail station and a short walk from Riverview Park, a company called The Other Side Cannabis Lounge envisions it as its new home.
The application is aiming to convert one retail space over two floors into the cannabis dispensary and lounge, which would total 3,047 square feet of space. Both the city’s planning board and cannabis control board would need to approve The Other Side’s application, in addition to other state-level entities.
While the planning board has not set a date to hear The Other Side’s application, its emergence is the latest sign that pot is hitting Jersey City in a big way. The planning board has already approved a slew of cannabis dispensaries in a variety of neighborhoods including Local Mōdiv, who are beginning the buildout of their space.
Jersey City’s planning board also approved the first cannabis consumption lounge earlier this year for a property at 759A Bergen Avenue in McGinley Square. Dubbed Medusa, it will be run by 33-year JC resident Haytham Elgawly.
A separate company named Cream Dispensary and Lounge is looking to open inside the current home of Hard Grove Cafe just off the Newark Avenue Pedestrian Plaza. It remains to be seen which pot-related businesses will be the first to open in Jersey City, but the flurry of activity seems to indicate strong interest.
