We figured that the best place to start telling our story in this crazy world of “legalized” cannabis would be the very beginning. In our new world, “legalized” means obtaining a license, which is far easier said than done.
We started our search way back in 2015, prior to the passage of California’s Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act. At that point, everyone was expecting the state to pass rules and regulations to rein in the mostly-unregulated California cannabis market. Each municipality is given the right to allow cannabis or implement an outright ban, so we began researching each city in Southern California right away, attending city council meetings, reviewing ordinances and speaking with lawyers and consultants. The “green” gold rush was officially on.
Long Beach, Carson, Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach were just a few of the municipalities we thought were going to implement ordinances. Trying to find a place to operate had been incredibly frustrating. We had no luck.
Then we found Cathedral City.
We heard about Cathedral City in the beginning of March 2016. Our initial real estate search provided no leads. After a few weeks we were losing hope, but decided to drive out there for one last look. As luck would have it, we ended up striking a deal on an off-market property on March 23, 2016. Application day was eight days away, on April 1, 2016. We had enough paperwork for a month and we had eight days to get it done. On April 1 at 8 a.m., we were third in line at City Hall. After 11 long months, we opened the doors to The OG Collective on March 5, 2017.
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