The Terrapin Care Station dispensary chain has opened Hoboken’s first medical and recreational cannabis dispensary simply called “The Station,” with a formal grand opening set for Friday evening.
By Daniel Ulloa/Hudson County View
“Hoboken is a city of many firsts. The Station will be a new first for Hoboken as we usher in destigmatization and cannabis legalization in the Garden State,” local partner Joe Castelo explained.
“I’m honored to be but a small part of bringing safe and exciting products to everyone in my hometown.”
Castelo is a local serial entrepreneur who spearheaded the Station’s opening. He designed the Station dispensary as a tribute to Hoboken’s train station, the Lackawanna Terminal, which is nearby their 86 River St. address.
The Station dispensary has a retro feel with fine wood, stained glass patterns, and unique light fixtures. There are also the sort of wooden benches you’d find in a train station.
Also similar to a train station, the dispensary floor is made of marble with brass between the tile.
The colored glass panels reference the work of the noted abstract artist Piet Mondrian who Castelo likes. They have also painted wallpaper from the 1950s as part of the retro theme.
Thus, its atmosphere was among the more creative versus the cold Apple store vibe of a lot of legal New Jersey cannabis dispensaries.
Terrapin Care Station is a cannabis corporation that is a Multi-State Operator (MSO) with locations in Colorado and Mississippi.
“It was such a long time coming. I can’t believe the moment has arrived. I’m just so excited,” Castelo explained.
“What’s your destination? Where do you want to go with cannabis? The customer is like the passenger, and we’re helping them go where they want to go. I feel like there was even more incentive from the state to prop up the medical business. Anything you could do to help it.”
They feature many of the MSO and White Label brands like the MSO Cookies, which had some of its New Jersey operations in Harrison featured in the New York Times recently.
He compared it to the coffee business, where many people care where their coffee beans come from.
“Here in this particular market, it’s all about curation. Cannabis shops are becoming like high-end coffee shops. Who’s got the best beans? Who put the most thought into where they source them and where stuff comes from?” Castelo noted.
“New beans, smaller growers, who really take the time to grow their beans and curate them, that’s what I’m after.”
The medical side of The Station dispensary opened in the fall and the NJ Cannabis Regulatory Commission (NJCRC) approved their expansion into the adult use cannabis market at their December 2023 meeting as the “Terrapin Investment Fund II.”
They have been trying to open a Hoboken cannabis dispensary since 2020.
Castelo noted he is a long-time cannabis consumer that was eager to get into the cannabis industry when legalization became a possibility.
In addition to his cannabis business, Castelo is a writer, director, and producer behind several films, including The Preppie Connection, the Indie Spirit Award-nominated The War Within, and Death Metal Angola.
Above the dispensary, he operates a rooftop atrium and lounge overlooking the Hudson River, along with the Antique Bar & Bakery, the Antique Loft, and Sweven, a members-only co-working space.
Castelo resides in the city with his wife and writing partner, Ashley, and their two daughters, while he met the other Terrapin Care Station owners at a cannabis networking event several years ago.
“The city that had the biggest impact on me is … Amsterdam. You can go into a building in Amsterdam and like it has everything you suddenly didn’t realize you needed. From art to music to film to food. Sort of the whole experience. Community interconnected, bringing people together, that’s what we do here,” he noted.
Opening the Station as the first Hoboken dispensary took a great deal of time.
The local Cannabis Review Board approved them in July 2022. They were eager to secure approval for adult use sales and first applied that May.
Before that, the Station fought Harmony Dispensary in court about abiding by local laws. Harmony dispensary tried to open nearby in Hoboken before things fell apart and their local approval was revoked.
Terrapin failed to secure a license in the 2018 medical cannabis round. They ultimately won a license in the 29-month 2019-2021 medical cannabis license round. At the time, they called themselves Hispanic-owned.
The Hoboken cannabis dispensary process became very contentious, with the MSO Story dispensary enraging some neighbors, and while a settlement has been reached there, other dispensaries, such as Blue Violets, are still tied up in court.
where all all the long lines of deviants running around causing out of control crimes, like the crazed minority holding up the process for these new business owners??? All of you who have fear mongered the fabric of hobokens community are going to be devastated, can now see this is much to do about nothing. People coming off path from NYC to get dope and wreck havoc, rob and steel, pillage and plunder etc…… Now you can relax your panties you got all bunched up and go about your daily life quietly.
Hopefully now landoards can stop charging crazy rents for hoboken businesses so they dont go out of business within one year of opening. Way too many boarded up shops on washington st. for too many years now.
Consideing this pot shop will only be opening on Friday it is premature to acess how it will affect the community.
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its actually been open medically
Everyone who is honest knows that the medical dispensary thing was just a ruse to get the big money recreational component..
agreed agreed, that part the local business owner should be held accountable for using the true medical patients as pawns. That being said no craziness like black friday shoppers stampeding through the streets.
As I recall, this dispensary was never an issue – all the administrative work was in line and the business is located in a non residential location.
Problems arose when theJersey City Mayor and his wife pulled a bait and switch in an uptown, heavily residential neighborhood, negotiating first for a physical therapy business, then flipping to a dispensary afterwards. A second conflict involves the placement of a dispensary within 600 feet of two schools, which violates an established ordinance.
I believe the message here was “smoke ’em if you got ’em” – just do it the right way.
As facts go from the inception of the idea to bring dispensaries into hoboken there was an uproar from certain type of residents not wanting any cannabis of any form in town. Than after 75% of the city voted in favor, the wanna be entitled changed there tune to try and make it as difficult as possible for anyone to open. Going from hell to cannabis to ok only one, trying to filibuster every step of the way.
I wonder what the back door settlement was entitled condo people at story made. Could appear they were looking for some money themselves. Again if your being true to your concerns than liquor shouldnt be sold near schools either. For the fact that alcohol is so much more dangerous if every single way you slice it. All of hoboken is heavily populated than no alcohol should be aloud either.
The facts show there has been fear mongering along the whole process and every time the select few lose they try to find a new angle and change the goal post to filibuster.
Just relax everything will be fine because the city that is pro cannabis is being cautious thoughtful and proactive.
Since Bhalla & Co are so enamored with tuning Hoboken into a copy of Amsterdam can legalize prostitution be far behind ?
People last time I checked have every right to object having cannabis shops near their homes.
I remember when Hoboken’s air smelled of rosated coffee and not toasted cannabis.
Since Bhalla & Co are so enamored with tuning Hoboken into a copy of Amsterdam can legalize prostitution be far behind ?
People last time I checked have every right to object having cannabis shops near their homes.
I remember when Hoboken’s air smelled of rosated coffee and not toasted cannabis.
your myopic bitterness proves the point of fear mongering.
feel free to object. your dead wrong to think its ok to try and change the goal post when thing arent going your way
a plethora of residents live downtown as well. this area will have way more traffic than story dispensary, no studies needed, just observe the obvious. How many path and railway daily commuters compared to uptown.