Sycuan Tribe Expands Business Model to Include Cannabis-Cafe Joint Venture in National Cit
April 16, 2025
Sycuan-backed Sessions by the Bay weed lounge opens in National City for 4/20 weekend
The nearly 16,000-square-foot, three-story Sessions By the Bay will be the first cannabis cafe in San Diego County
In May 2022, National City became the first municipality in the county — where medical marijuana dispensaries and retail sales proliferate — to approve marijuana lounges for the consumption of the drug, and now, nearly three years later, the first such site is set for a grand opening.
The cannabis cafe Sessions By the Bay is located in the city’s tourist commercial zone on property owned by the Sycuan tribe.
Sessions By the Bay’s Alex Ayon, a San Diego native, told NBC 7 at the time that the timeline for the project called for a December 2023 opening — a deadline that obviously ballooned.
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Ayon said in December that the nearly 16,000-square-foot facility at 700 Bay Marina Drive, the former location of California College San Diego, would have a downstairs dispensary; a second-floor lounge with food, drinks and entertainment; and a third-floor rooftop lounge.
“It’s a space where we’re hoping to not just sell you something but provide a full experience,” Ayon said.
Sessions by the Bay will be the first place in San Diego County where you can buy and consume cannabis products in a restaurant setting. Ayon said last year that a new state law and local support paved the way for customers to eat edibles, drink infused beverages, and smoke products on site.
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“They’ve recently developed a lot of regulations specifically for lounge environments,” he explained at the time.
A VIP ribbon-cutting is slated for Thursday from 9 a.m. to noon, with a small private event being hosted that evening, then the doors will be open to the public on Friday for the 4/20 weekend, when the lounge’s hours are between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. Reservations are required for the three-day weekend event, according to Sessions By the Bay’s website, but a check on OpenTable showed the first reservation available on Monday… Live music is planned for each day, with 15 acts booked.
Sycuan backing
Adam Day, who in 2022 was the chief administrative officer of the Sycuan Tribal Government, confirmed to NBC 7at the time that a tribally controlled financial entity, the Sycuan Tribal Development Corporation (SDTC), had partnered with Sessions By the Bay on the project. That entity owns and controls most of the city block on which Sessions, which Adams referred to as a joint venture, is sited, including the building Sessions is located in, as well as a nearby Marina Gateway Hotel and the Kimball Coastal Eatery next door to the cannabis cafe’s location.
“The Sycuan Tribal Development Corporation (STDC) is honored that our partnership to operate a cannabis lounge and retail store at our property in National City was unanimously approved by the city council,” STDC President Josh Muse is quoted in part as saying in a statement sent to NBC 7.
Alex confirmed at the time to NBC 7 that Sessions By the Bay had partnered with Sycuan — which also owns the U.S. Grant Hotel; the Hotel Solamar, in the Gaslamp; and the Singing Hills Golf Resort, in El Cajon; as well as their casino resort in El Cajon — and had signed a lease with the SDTC.
“This property happens to be on Kumeyaay land,” Alex said. “The war on drugs has negatively impacted communities of color disproportionately, and that includes Native American communities, so it’s great to have Sycuan’s leadership and participation in this industry.”
Sessions By the Bay was the only applicant for a lounge license back when National City approved the ordinance.
Sessions By the Bay
Alex told NBC 7 in 2022 that he would be operating Sessions By the Bay with his wife, Pearl Ayon.
“In this business, there are not very many female owners, especially minority, Latino owners,” Alex said, adding that his wife’s family is Mexican, and his is from Colombia and Brazil. “We’re both born here. She’s first-generation.”
Alex, who is now in his early 40s, has worked in the cannabis industry since 2009 and has owned a dispensary in San Diego in the past.
“Pearl Ayon and Alex [Ayon] have over 10 years of experience in the cannabis industry and are viewed as thought leaders and operators with integrity,” SDTC’s Muse also said in the statement sent to NBC 7. “They place safety, customer satisfaction and legal compliance at the top of all they do. Together with their team, we will make Sessions By the Bay a leader throughout this region and beyond in the burgeoning legal cannabis market.”
Alex, who formerly worked in the mortgage sector, said the lounge’s name, Sessions By the Bay, refers to a social “smoking” session. Alcohol, he said, will not be available at Sessions By the Bay. The cannabis cafe could employ as many as 100 people by the time it opens, Alex thought in 2022.
National City has concerns, of course, that all the cannabis businesses will operate in a way to protect the health and safety of the public and that they will generate tax revenue for the city to support the general fund.
While the Ayons have spent more than six figures on the project by the end of 2022, they still had a long financial road to travel.
“In total, we’re figuring it’s going to be a $4 million project,” Alex said at the time. “To get it open, that includes tenant improvements, that includes the investment into marketing, inventory,and there’s a significant investment in the workforce — training and the hiring. We’re intending to hire at least a majority — at least 60% of our workforce — from National City, National City residents.”
As part of their applications in Phase 2, National City wanted to see what value the businesses could bring to the community besides just running the business well, Alex told NBC 7.
“We intend to work with a lot of National City nonprofits and community goodwill organizations,” Alex said, adding that “a percentage of our profits will be invested back into the community, specifically for youth programs, substance-abuse type programs and a few others.”
NATIONAL CITY’S MARIJUANA ORDINANCE
Approval of the South Bay city’s ordinance, which permits retail sales as well, came after six people spoke in opposition during the public comment period of the city council meeting. In the end, the council approved Ordinance No. 2021 by a vote of 4-1, with then-Councilman Ron Morrison, who is now National City’s mayor, in the minority. He had proposed a motion to proceed with the other elements of the ordinance but rezone the lounges to bring them in line with other businesses.
“This is an opportunity to help bring new business in but also to think creatively,” then-National City mayor Alejandra Sotelo-Solis said in 2022.
Cannabis lounges can only be opened in National City’s Tourist Commercial Zone, which is a small irregularly shaped area west of Interstate 5, south of Bay Marina Drive, east of Tidelands Avenue and in the area around the marina.
Currently, the area is mostly occupied by parking lots and industrial buildings. Per the ordinance: “ ‘Consumption lounge’ means an area that is part of the premises of a state-licensed, locally permitted commercial cannabis retail business.” At this point, that doesn’t appear to present a lot of options for locations.
“What it looks like is: When a person walks in, they have an employee that will walk them through the product, the level, the intensity, whether it is an edible or another type of product then they will have the opportunity to consume it,” Sotelo-Solis said.
Details about the city ordinance:
- Alcohol and tobacco consumption in the lounges is prohibited
- Patrons must be 21 or older
- Cannabis consumption cannot be seen from outside the lounge
- No BYOC – patrons have to buy their cannabis on-site
- Lounges can sell food
- A security guard must be working during the hours of operation
- Approval of permits is dependent upon an “anti-drugged driving plan”
National City’s ordinance went into force June 3, 2021, 30 days after its passage.
When Sessions By the Bay opens, it will be the first in the county, though not the state. Weed bars are already open in Los Angeles and other cities as well.
At a federal level, marijuana is still a Schedule 1 controlled substance. Cannabis is legal for recreational use in 15 states and the nation’s capital, while medical marijuana is legal in three dozen states.
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