Stellar Dispensary to Open 6K-SF Cannabis Shop in Queens Village
By Mark Hallum April 1, 2026 9:58 am
reprints
The Strain Stars group of dispensaries is setting up shop in Queens Village.
The large-format cannabis company signed a 15-year, 5,800-square-foot lease at Karan Zoria’s 218-25 Hempstead Avenue for what it is calling Stellar Dispensary, according to landlord broker Colliers.
Asking rent for the space was $360,000 per year, or $62.07 per square foot, according to a flyer from the brokerage.
“With ownership, myself and the tenants team, we worked through the [New York State Office Cannabis Management] process, which took over eight months to finalize,” Colliers’ Joshua Kleinberg, who represented the landlord alongside Samuel Essery, told Commercial Observer. “The tenant originally had free rent — I think 90 days — and, then, as time went on, they agreed to put up nonrefundable monthly installments until they got their official approval.”
Louis Peter Cotrone of X Real Estate Group, which specializes in representing cannabis retailers, negotiated on behalf of the tenant in the transaction.
“This transaction reflects more than a strong rent in Queens — it reflects the strategic value of cannabis real estate along the Nassau-Queens border,” Cotrone said in a statement. “Queens can host licensed dispensaries, while many nearby Nassau municipalities remain constrained by local opt-outs, which makes well-positioned border locations even more important for operators looking to capture both neighborhood demand and regional demand.”
Strain Stars has three existing locations in New York state at Farmingdale, White Plains and Riverhead.
In May 2025, Kleinberg helped secure another lease in the building for the landlord as laundromat chain LaundryBee agreed to a 20-year lease for 5,000 square feet.
The Stellar Dispensary and LaundryBee spaces were once leased to a single tenant, Rite Aid, which occupied 10,800 square feet before its parent company announced it would close 140 stores after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last summer.
Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.
