Massachusetts medical marijuana dispensary expands in Tampa Bay

ST. PETERSBURG — A Massachusetts builder has completed work on four marijuana dispensaries in Florida, including two in Pinellas County.

The facilities, built by Vantage Builders, are for Sanctuary Medicinals, a Massachusetts company which offers “premium, pharmaceutical grade cannabis products for medical use.” The four dispensaries bring the total number Sanctuary has in the state to six.

The two local dispensaries are at 3790 Tyrone Blvd. in St. Petersburg and 1352 Main St. in Dunedin. The company, which also has dispensaries in Massachusetts, has one other in Tampa on Waters Avenue.

A spokesperson for Vantage says the company is working on six more in Florida that are expected to open later this year. 

The St. Petersburg and Fort Pierce dispensaries are 2,300 square feet, and the one in Dunedin is 1,200 square feet. Sebring’s comes in at 1,200 square feet.

Vantage’s spokesperson says the buildouts were all similar except for the one in Fort Pierce. The company had to transform what had once been a Sunoco Mobil Mart, which meant major structural work along with roofing work and adding new window and doors. A two-story “tower” was also built at the front of the building to give the location some visibility.

Other than that, the locations all feature the same style and branding, have new MEP and HVAC systems, and are built so “the operational flow of the stores helps patients feel cared for and unhurried.”

This isn’t the first time Vantage and Sanctuary, which moved into the Florida market last year, have worked together. The construction company built four dispensaries and a 36,000-square-foot cultivation facility for Sanctuary in Massachusetts. 

Vantage was founded in 2000 and has an office in Orlando as well as Massachusetts.