After Brookfield’s village board voted unanimously in June to approve a special use permit for a cannabis dispensary at 9500 Ogden Ave., officials working on the project are looking forward to seeing it progress.
“It was such a relief. [I was] happy,” said Tanya Griffin, the CEO of cannabis consulting firm Water + Trees, of her reaction at the June 22 meeting. “We had been working so hard on this project for so many months will the village staff … It was wonderful news.”
Libby Popovic, Brookfield’s community development director, said the board’s approval means the village “can finally execute the full redevelopment” of the dilapidated parcel, which extends to 9508 Ogden Ave. and borders the residential 4000 block of Dubois Boulevard. Brookfield purchased the property in the spring of 2025 for $562,500, with the funds coming out of the Ogden Avenue tax increment financing (TIF) district.
“It’s a good feeling to be able to move it to the next level because we’ve secured the end user. Now, we can really focus on the redevelopment of that corner, which is a very significant investment in a long-term, underutilized commercial property that’s been vacant for a number of years,” Popovic said.
Residents Manni Carathannasis and the Rev. Vicky Carathannasis, who live on the 4000 block of Dubois, and Chris DiBraccio, who owns and operates Imperial Oak Brewing adjacent to the dispensary’s planned location, have been outspoken against wanting the dispensary in their area since the special use permit was first discussed in May at a planning and zoning commission meeting.
DiBraccio and Manni Carathannasis did not respond to requests for comment from the Landmark following the meeting by the time of publication.
In a Desplaines Valley News story following the board’s vote, Carathannasis, who had presented the board with a petition that earned 217 signatures against the dispensary, said he felt the dispensary would be incompatible with the residential neighborhood nearby.
“It’s a family-oriented neighborhood. That’s what attracted me to Brookfield 10 years ago,” Carathannasis said. “I don’t think the amount of money is worth it … I just don’t think it’s the right place for it.”
He spoke in reference to projected sales tax revenues that Griffin had shared with the village, scaling up from about $150,000 in 2027 to about $300,000 by 2029.
Griffin said her team is “full speed ahead” on all aspects of the project, from the architects drawing up plans for the building to going through Brookfield’s process to secure building permits. The village board’s vote separately approved the issuance of a special use permit to the applicants, including Griffin and owner-operator IC Collective, which is required by village code to open a cannabis dispensary anywhere in town.
“My team, the general contractors, the architects, all of those guys are working behind the scenes. As soon as we get the go-ahead, then we start demo[lition],” Griffin said. “Before we get to open, we have major inspections, of course. The city inspections, the Illinois State Police inspections, and then we have multiple inspections with the IDFPR [Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation].”
Griffin said she hopes demolition could begin as soon as mid-August, though she said it would be “a conservative win” if the process starts by the beginning of September.
“We’ll have this thing open before the end of the year, right?” she said. “This is all tied to how quickly we can move through the regulatory process.”
Despite the amount of input received through public comment by nearby residents decrying the dispensary, Griffin said she was “not sure if it informs how the dispensary will open.”
“We put so much work into it with the village, so it’s really those details we’re going to be working out with the village engineer and permitting,” she said. “Having said that, we always want to include the community. Those three houses that live back there, which is the three people that spoke [on June 22] … We always would want their input.”
