The Atlantic City Claridge Hotel is creating room on what was formerly its casino floor for a cannabis shop and club that might open as early as this summer. The state is completing the approval of legislation for regulated consumption lounges, where patrons can use cannabis products they’ve bought from dispensaries in a public environment while smoking, vaping, or eating in a similar manner to a bar or restaurant.
In the meantime, the Claridge, a former casino built in the 1920s and situated between Park Place and Indiana Avenue, just off the Boardwalk, received approval from the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority last week for a 10,000 square foot, two-story High Rollers Dispensary.
The Claridge is exempt from the city’s ban on the sale of recreational marijuana on the Boardwalk because it is not physically adjacent to the Boardwalk and is instead separated from it by Brighton Park and the Korean War Memorial. A casino would have made it subject to federal limitations, but it no longer has one.
According to High Rollers Dispensary owner Jon Cohn, the business was almost ready to sign its lease with the Claridge and will start $3.2 million in improvements, including creating a new entrance on Pacific Avenue next to Indiana.
“We believe using cannabis for tourism is a fantastic fit for the city as a whole,” said Cohn, whose business is also authorized to erect a cultivation facility on a vacant plot of property on neighboring Martin Luther King Boulevard next to the Arctic in Atlantic City. Although it’s not possible, you can still go near the Boardwalk.
He estimates that the cultivation plant, which the state’s Department of Environmental Protection is still reviewing, will provide 175 employees, and the dispensary and lounge will add 35 more. The majority of the space that was once an art gallery and is now primarily utilized for cocktail parties, weddings, and other events will be occupied by the dispensary component.
A section of the space will be kept by the hotel, which sees a lot of wedding business. With the exception of times when the hotel is hosting weddings, Jon Cohn said the lounge and dispensary would also be available through the hotel lobby.
The dispensary and consumption lounge, which will have a non-alcoholic bar, potential possibilities for outside food, live music, and other pop-up entertainment, will be reconstructed from the remaining area and a second-story, 3,700-square-foot former baccarat lounge, according to Cohn.
The state’s existing regulations, which are out for public comment until March 18, prohibit the sale of food or alcohol within consumption lounges, although such restrictions have drawn criticism. Atlantic City created a “green zone” in 2022 to promote cannabis tourism.
The region encompasses Atlantic Avenue and Pacific Avenue from Boston to Maryland Avenue as well as the Orange Loop District, a collection of nightclubs, eateries, and music venues that extends between Tennessee and New York Avenue from Pacific to a distance of 200 feet from the Boardwalk. There are 21 recreational dispensaries in New Jersey, and 9 only serve individuals who need medical marijuana.
Businesses that deal in marijuana may apply to open one consumption place under the proposed regulations. There are two medical dispensaries in Atlantic City: MPX NJ on the New York Avenue beach block and “The Botanist” on the Boardwalk at South Carolina Avenue. There are several retail outlets planned.
