This cannabis dispensary was among Modesto’s first. Now it’s evicted in lease dispute
One of the first recreational cannabis dispensaries to be approved to open in Modesto was evicted this week.
Doctor’s Choice was evicted Monday from its strip mall location on the 2000 block of Yosemite Boulevard, said property manager Raj Kumar. He said the business was ordered to vacate the property, sandwiched between a smoke shop and billiard hall, after failing to pay rent for several months.
Kumar also alleges the tenant caused damages to the building before leaving.
But the Ceres family that owns the dispensary said the eviction and closure was due to failed lease renegotiation and denies any claims of property damage.
Kumar, whose wife, Amar Kumar, owns the building, said the pot dispensary had not paid its $4,000 a month rent since October. The Modesto couple began the eviction process on the business in November, he said.
The business was given a Monday morning deadline to vacate. Kumar said the building security cameras showed staff clearing out the space after closing for business Sunday night.
He said when he arrived to inspect the property the following morning, he found extensive damage. That includes four missing doors, holes and cuts in the door frames and drywall, and electrical wiring issues.
Doctor’s Choice operator Shan Bal, whose mother owns the dispensary, said they removed and took only the doors they had installed themselves. He denied claims of additional property damage.
Bal said the three-year lease on the building ran out in November 2021 and his family had tried to renegotiate with the landlord.
He claims Kumar tried to charge them almost nine times their current rent to start a new long-term contract and then refused to negotiate. He alleges they were offered a 20-year lease where the rent would average out to more than $100,000 per month.
“We tried to reach out to the landlord to renew the lease more than six months ago and he refused to negotiate at that time,” Bal said. “He tried to take advantage of us.”
But Kumar said the new lease amounts were incorrect, and they were willing to negotiate a new long-term contract. But he said Bal refused to pay the month-to-month rent due after the original contract lapsed.
“We sent a notice, they never respond. Each time we try to call them, they never respond. So we had to go this route,” Kumar said. “You give people a place to establish their business, but when they leave, they destroy the building. That hurts.”
The dispensary’s closure was news to many of its customers as a steady steam of people arrived at the front door only to find it locked and the inside emptied out Monday afternoon. The pot shop had been operating normally until closing Sunday night.
Bal said they plan to move to a new location and will be “opening soon” but would not comment on where or when that might be. As of Monday evening, there was no information on the cannabis shop’s Instagram, Facebook or Weedmaps pages about its closure or possible new location.
Kumar said he is now left with about $50,000 in damages to repair the approximately 3,200-square-foot space. He said he is also due the last four months rent of $16,000. He said he plans to pursue legal action against his former tenant to recoup costs.
Doctor’s Choice was among eight cannabis businesses approved by the Modesto City Council in December 2018 to operate as the first legal recreational marijuana dispensaries in the city. The shop beat out a half dozen other applicants, who underwent an extensive multi-step vetting process at the time.
Since its opening in 2019, the dispensary has sold recreational and medicinal marijuana products from its storefront. The California Department of Cannabis Control lists the shop’s license as valid until May 2022.
This story was originally published March 15, 2022 at 11:26 AM.
