By Kathryn Reed

Tahoe Wellness Cooperative owner Cody Bass and a group of investors are about to be the owners of the property that houses the medical marijuana collective.

Bass is in escrow with Patty Olson, who for years has owned that strip of land in the Bijou Center. The corporation that was formed to buy the parcel is also purchasing the house Olson lived in until earlier this year when she moved to Reno. Bass intends to make it his home.

The building with CVS and other businesses is a separate parcel with a different owner.

“My first goal is I’m to lease the bank space. I want the city to allow me to have 800 more square feet to have the bank vault and more admin space,” Bass told Lake Tahoe News.

El Dorado Savings used to be in that location.

The need for the bank vault is to allow the co-op to be compliant with the law that requires such businesses to have certain vault compliance by 2018. The current vault is not sufficient.

Bass is working with city of South Lake Tahoe officials to make this work. He contends the wellness center is its own business and should be spun off from the co-op. The center is an entity any member of the public may access, while the collective if for people with a prescription.

The spot where Hot Gossip was is vacant. Bass envisions a tenant selling coffee, tea and superfoods going in there. To start with, it will just be beverages. The kitchen needs to be rebuilt.

Originally, an alehouse wanted to lease that space, but Bass believes that would not be a good fit with the co-op in the same center.

Down the road he foresees adding a second floor to the building. Bass’ goal, if construction is in the future, is to have it LEED certified. He believes the city should adopt a policy so new construction conforms to the U.S. Green Building Council’s guidelines.

Bass also plans to hire a security guard this summer to deal with people using his parking spaces when their destination is the nearby beach.