Green Street's New Business Center Is Just What The Cannabis Industry Needs To Further Legitimize Itself

Nestled in the middle of Los Angeles’ Jewelry District, peeking through the feathered leaves of a jacaranda tree, a matte black, vertical, rectangular sign reads: “Green Street.” Below it, a new, award-winning pedigree restaurant on the first floor of a cannabis industry landmark.

 Seven-eighteen South Hill Street, Los Angeles is now home to the industry’s first, new full business center and all-encompassing ecosystem. Nearly completed, the structure includes a retail shop and art gallery, brand showrooms, a buyers lounge, executive coworking suites, and a penthouse and rooftop event space with end-of-day sunset views.

In total, nine floors, 67,000 square feet, and 100% dedicated to the cannabis community. The first of its kind, and the model for what be to come as the cannabis industry matures and begins to resemble the best of the conventional business world. 

Cannabis coworking has been tried before in Los Angeles, with now, defunct, Paragon Space. But that was tied to a cryptocurrency, built for a single company, without a self-contained ecosystem, and had about seven parking spots.

Green Street is no Paragon Space 2.0.

Green Street’s new business center is what the cannabis industry needs to further legitimize itself, and more than that, bring it together.

Co-founders Rama Mayo and his partner Joshua Shelton, already active members and pillars in the cannabis community, built Green Street with that congregation in mind. A place of respite away from the rest of the business world.

People often think the California cannabis industry is loaded with money and everyone’s flourishing. “I want to own an LA dispensary and be rich,” a wealthy doctor once told me, ambitiously. But, it’s rarely that way.

In things like LA retail, expenses are high, margins can be low, and tax deductions are mostly non-existent. What’s more, it’s quite common for cannabis entrepreneurs and businesses to be manipulated and swindled by their conventional counterparts.

Stigma begets scarcity, and scarcity begets exploitation.

Need the air conditioning fixed in that same building? Guess what? You’re stuck with the bill and you’ll find the contractor charged you more than he did the last guy.

Don’t like it? Find another contractor who’s not afraid to work with cannabis business owners, or one who doesn’t despise the industry altogether. Or find another building to lease.

But you can’t just go and do that if you’re a license holder, because licenses are tied to real estate.

That’s what happened to Mayo and Green Street during its early years as holders of multiple cannabis licenses. “Our landlord decided to raise the rent 40% one afternoon,” Mayo said. He couldn’t just move, his license was tied to the lease and it’s a whole process to move it.

“I had to just take it in the chin,” Mayo told me. He likened it to feeling like being made to sit at the kid’s table for meals. The real business guys at the big boy table.

You’ve been there. We all have.

For this reason, attending the Green Street soft opening earlier this month felt almost like a pilgrimage. I, and a congregation of other devotees to the sacred medicinal herb, were delighted to finally have a place to eat a deep fried hemp leaf and smoke from a pipe I brought from home.

It’s because Mayo designed it that way. “I see Green Street almost like a church,” he told me. “A place the cannabis community can come to get together and feel appreciated.”

Green Street’s final touches and restaurant are expected to be completed in November, 2021, with the highly-anticipated rooftop opening in Spring, 2022.

Three adjacent apartment buildings have been remodeled are prime and ready for new cannabis industry professionals to call home. Upon full opening, Green Street will house over 50 companies.

Mayo imagines the entire block being closed off to one day host an annual South by Southwest-esque cannabis festival and conference.

Should all go according to plan, Green Street is set to transform the entire block and aspires to be the foundation for what will become the “Cannabis District of the World.”

Green Street demonstrates that a well-planned, pioneering cannabis institution can be a powerful asset to a metro community. The restaurant alone has raised property values by millions of dollars, much to the delight of neighboring jewelry store real estate owners.

Then, one day, some of the highest LA recognition was earned. “We got a call from the Staples Center,” Mayo explained. “They said we know who you are, we know what you’re doing, and we want to work with you.”

Tantamount to, “Welcome. You’re one of us, now, Green Street.”

Mayo and his team are no longer an afterthought invited to sit at the kid’s table for holiday meals--they’re now seated with the other adults, and treated as such.

In fact, they’ve become the hosts, and own the table.

Instagram Video Credit: High Rise Agency

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Photo by Andre F. Bourque

Andre F. Bourque is a cannabis industry connector, licensing consultant, brand strategy advisor, and occasional writer when he feels inspired. In addition to Benzinga, Andre’s articles have been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur.com, HuffPo, Yahoo Finance, Ebony Magazine, and Ebony.com.

You can connect with him on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.