{"id":10490,"date":"2024-10-28T22:01:59","date_gmt":"2024-10-28T22:01:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/?p=6811092"},"modified":"2024-10-28T22:01:59","modified_gmt":"2024-10-28T22:01:59","slug":"green-dragon-closing-17-dispensaries-grow-facility-in-colorado-ceo-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/green-dragon-closing-17-dispensaries-grow-facility-in-colorado-ceo-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Green Dragon closing 17 dispensaries, grow facility in Colorado, CEO says"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/green-dragon-closing-17-dispensaries-grow-facility-in-colorado-ceo-says\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<div><img src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/green-dragon-closing-17-dispensaries-grow-facility-in-colorado-ceo-says.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Green Dragon, one of Colorado\u2019s largest cannabis companies, is preparing to cease operations.<\/p>\n<p>The company said in a notice to the state labor department last week that it plans to lay off all 59 workers at its 92,000-square-foot grow facility at 830 Wyandot St. in Denver by year end.<\/p>\n<p>Cory Azzalino, CEO of Eaze, a California-based cannabis delivery firm that is also Green Dragon\u2019s parent company, told BusinessDen Friday morning that all 17 Green Dragon retail locations in Colorado will close by then too.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018We didn\u2019t have to file a WARN in Colorado for those,\u201d he said, citing the employee count at each store being under a 50-worker threshold. \u201cBut those workers are part of the existing entities that will be closing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Green Dragon will also close its 400,000-square-foot medical marijuana grow operation in Florida, as well as its 39 Sunshine State dispensaries as part of the shutdown, Azzalino said.<\/p>\n<p>Green Dragon is one of the biggest players in the Colorado weed world, according to Christopher Smith of Desarollo Real Estate, a firm that focuses on cannabis-related properties.<\/p>\n<p>Green Dragon and Eaze recently got a new owner. An ownership group involving Jim Clark, a billionaire founder of the defunct tech firm Netscape, foreclosed on the business\u2019 assets in August for $54 million, according to\u00a0Green Market Report. His company, FoundersJT, loaned the company $36.9 million in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>Azzalino, the CEO, described that process as akin to a bankruptcy sale, saying marijuana\u2019s illegal status on the federal level complicates the use of bankruptcy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we weren\u2019t cannabis, it would\u2019ve likely been Chapter 11,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Clark declined to comment when reached by email. Azzalino said he is unsure what Clark plans to do, but he is \u201ccertain\u201d that what is currently Green Dragon will not exist in the future. He said the new ownership group is in wait-and-see mode.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cResult of the election will play a major role in that, specifically Amendment 3 in Florida, which could be a catalyzing event,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Amendment 3 would legalize recreational marijuana in the state. The state will vote on it Nov. 5.<\/p>\n<p>Eaze acquired Green Dragon roughly three years ago, but in mid-2023, Green Dragon co-founders Lisa Leder, Andrew Levine and Alex Levine sued the company for fraud. They alleged Eaze misrepresented its finances in the lead up to the sale and wrongfully fired the trio in February 2023, court documents show. The case was dismissed months later in November.<\/p>\n<p>Levine, still a shareholder in the company, filed another civil suit against Eaze on Aug. 6, court records show. The suit aims to investigate whether Clark and board member Thomas Jermoluk conspired to acquire the company\u2019s assets at below-market value, according to\u00a0Green Market Report.<\/p>\n<p>Green Dragon\u2019s Denver grow facility, meanwhile, just got a new landlord. The building at 830 Wyandot St. was bought this month by Don Ball, a Texas-based real estate investor, for $11.5 million, public records show.<\/p>\n<p>Ball told BusinessDen Friday he has yet to hear from his tenant, but is not too worried because Green Dragon is locked into an \u201cironclad\u201d lease.<\/p>\n<p>He bought the building from Best Properties LLC, a company headed by Leder. She also listed a Florida grow facility property for sale over the summer, but decided to pull it off the market in recent months because of the prospect it might fetch more if Amendment 3 passes, Ball said.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"related right\"> <\/aside>\n<p>Azzalino said the sale of 830 Wyandot St. was unrelated to the company\u2019s shuttering, but noted Leder is trying to shed her Green Dragon-related assets. She also\u00a0recently sold\u00a0the \u201cMarijuana Mansion\u201d in Denver\u2019s Cap Hill neighborhood, which is in front of a Green Dragon dispensary.<\/p>\n<p>Ball said there has been no indication that he won\u2019t get the $143,000 rent payment he\u2019s owed at 830 Wyandot St. on Oct. 30. Green Dragon\u2019s lease will expire in January 2031 and rent increases 1.5 to 3 percent each year, according to a marketing brochure for the property.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe only thing that could destroy the income is if they file for Chapter 11,\u201d Ball said.<\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/myaccount.denverpost.com\/dp\/preference\">Want to get the latest marijuana news from around the country? Sign up for The Cannabist, our weekly newsletter, now.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Originally Published: October 28, 2024 at 3:10 PM MDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>Green Dragon, one of Colorado\u2019s largest cannabis companies, is preparing to cease operations. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7692,5062,8418,10725,52,7938,77,56,9,5019,7243,1,3,6923,61,1736],"tags":[7696,5063,8419,10726,2632,7939,2655,2636,5022,7244,6924],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10490"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10490\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}