Judge upholds permit for controversial cannabis shop in Streeterville

A judge Wednesday upheld the city of Chicago’s approval for a cannabis store to operate in Streeterville, despite a prior determination by the city zoning administrator that the shop was too close to a school.

Court documents in the case showed that Helen Shiller, a member of the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals who voted to approve the permit, has a son who owned a 3% stake in the dispensary, raising concern over what critics called a conflict of interest.

But Chicago attorney Brendan Shiller told the Tribune that he sold his interest in the business in 2021 or 2022, long before the ZBA considered a special use permit for the store in 2024.

And Associate Judge Myron Mackoff ruled that there was no proof that Helen Shiller knew her son had owned part of the business, Guaranteed Pharma and G.P. Green House LLC, that operates Guaranteed Dispensary.

The dispensary, on the southwest corner of Ontario Street and Fairbanks Court in Chicago, opened late in 2025, and its attorney, Nicholas Ftikas, said operations were going well.

More than 800 people had signed an online petition objecting to the store prior to its opening at the site of the former West Egg Cafe. Critics said it would generate too much traffic and congestion, cause safety problems for ambulances going to nearby Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and was too close to Guidepost Montessori at Magnificent Mile, 226 E. Illinois St.

State law prohibits marijuana shops from being within 500 feet of a school, and the Montessori site was 480 feet away, attorneys said. A school administrator sent a letter stating that it provided education to grade schoolers, in addition to being a daycare center, but no one from the facility testified at the zoning hearing, and none responded to the Tribune’s requests for comment.

Chicago Zoning Administrator Patrick Murphey previously looked into the issue and concluded that the proposed shop was too close to the school. The Illinois Liquor Control Commission also had ruled that the facility was a school in an unrelated case.

But in 2024, the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals overruled the administrator, approving the special use permit for the shop by a 3-2 vote.

Chicago regulators approve cannabis dispensary despite objections over its proximity to school

Helen Shiller voted for approval. She said it was unclear whether the Montessori daycare was also a school, since it hadn’t registered with the state as one — though such registration is not required.

Before the zoning board vote, Helen Shiller acknowledged that Brendan Shiller had worked as an attorney on the G.P. Green House application for a state license lottery, but said he was not involved in the city application for the special use permit.

When then-Zoning Board of Appeals Chair Brian Sanchez asked Helen Shiller if she could be impartial, she said yes. Shiller, the former longtime alderman for the Uptown neighborhood, is now acting chair of the zoning board.

Neighborhood resident Beth Padera had filed suit challenging the zoning board ruling. Her attorney Jenna Mileager argued in court filings that Helen Shiller “had a significant conflict that she failed to disclose, and, in fact, misled the Board about, and the 3-2 decision of the Board, of which she was the decisive vote, must be reversed.”

Following the judge’s ruling, Helen Shiller told the Tribune she was not aware that her son, whose law firm she had worked at years before as chief financial officer, had an ownership interest in the company.

“I asked my son: Are you involved with this at all?” she said. “He said no, he didn’t have anything to do with the application or the dispensary.”

She said she checked with Steve Berlin, then-executive director of the Chicago Board of Ethics, and concluded there was no conflict of interest.

As a private attorney, Brendan Shiller previously handled several legal claims for police misconduct, and he now does legislative policy consulting for Cook County Chief Judge Charles Beach II, as well as pro bono work for nonprofits, such as the Westside Justice Center, which his mother helped create. He has also played poker professionally, winning almost $1 million, according to the Hendon Mob Poker Database.

The state license application in court documents showed that Guaranteed Investment Corp., with owners Ayman Haswah and Ahmad Shaban, oversaw Guaranteed Pharma LLC, whose primary owner was Ghaleb Barakat.

Barakat had 48% ownership, Shaban 45%, and Brendan Shiller 3%, among six listed owners. Brendan Shiller was also listed as the cannabis company’s legal and compliance director.

He said he no longer has any connection to the business, but said, “I’m rooting for Guaranteed to be the most successful dispensary in the city.”

Guaranteed Investments was also previously reported by the state as an applicant for a proposed craft cannabis grow house at 7401 S. State St.

Former 6th Ward Ald. Roderick Sawyer had testified to the zoning board on Haswah’s behalf, saying that as a liquor store owner, Haswah was very responsible and responsive to problems.

In court, Chicago Assistant Corporation Counsel Ranj Mohip argued in favor of the zoning board approval, though a previous city email showed he agreed there was a school nearby. Mohip told the judge that city ethics rules require only that zoning board members be impartial in their decisions.

Generally, the courts are limited in overruling regulatory agencies unless a ruling was clearly erroneous.

“This is a very tough case,” Mackoff said. Regarding the potential conflict of interest, he said, “I don’t see that this created enough of a bias to disqualify her. So I don’t believe that would be an issue to reverse or overturn (the ZBA).”

Regarding whether the cannabis site was too close to a school, the judge said, “I cannot say that I was left with a definite and firm conviction that a mistake was made.”

In an unrelated development, all recreational cannabis stores in Illinois will soon be eligible to sell pot at the 1% medical marijuana tax rate to certified patients. As part of the state law that generally will ban the sale of intoxicating hemp products come November, Gov. JB Pritzker also approved allowing medical marijuana sales at all stores beyond the original 55 medical shops.

On Thursday, the state approved expanding access to 37 more medical shops out of 288 stores statewide.