Company tied to marijuana cultivation partner buys former bank for $1.9M

The dispensary will be similar to what the company has built in the Cleveland area, where it opened a South Euclid dispensary with a drive-through lane this past summer.

The Dayton site will probably open in about six months, where it likely will have about 30 full-time employees, open from about 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week, Weprin said.

“I’ve been driving by that building for 35 years because we grew up in (Oakwood),” Weprin said Monday. “It’s right down the street from where we grew up. There will be a drive-through (access point). There should be 40-plus parking spaces.”

The company also operates a growth and processing lab on Springfield Street, also in Dayton.

951 Patterson LLC (limited liability company) bought the building and property at 951 Patterson Road from Patterson Road LLC. Montgomery County records give the sale date as Dec. 17, and the sale price as $1.9 million.

The state articles of organization for the acquiring LLC were signed by Weprin.

The former bank is in a part of Dayton near municipal borders shared with Oakwood and Kettering. It is also near a Leora addiction and mental health treatment facility, at 948 Patterson, near the intersection with Wilmington Avenue.

Weprin said the dispensary he has in mind will be more than 500 feet away from the Leora facility, as required by state commerce rules.

“It’s far away, you can’t really see it,” he said. “I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease when I was 12 years old. I’ve been a cannabis consumer for a very long time. We are big believers in the medical component of cannabis and excited to serve the community in Dayton.”

Weprin may also be known in the Dayton area as one of the founders of the Fusian chain of fast-casual sushi restaurants, with Stephan Harman and Weprin’s brother Josh.

Weprin said his sole commercial focus these days is on the cannabis cultivation business.

Certified Cultivators, at 1654 Springfield St. in Dayton, was one of two growers awarded a provisional Level 1 license in 2018 by the Ohio Department of Commerce. With a Level 1 license, Certified Cultivators was able to have up to 25,000 square feet of growing space for medical marijuana.

Cultivators operate marijuana grow facilities, while processors manufacture cannabis products like lotions, ointments, capsules, patches, edibles and oils, according to the state cannabis division.

Some 30 facilities in the state are licensed to legally grow marijuana.

In 2021, Key Bank announced plans to consolidate its 951 Patterson and 20 W. Whipp roads branches into its Arbor branch, at 4401 Far Hills Ave. in Kettering.