Legal marijuana has arrived in the South End. The neighborhood’s first medical dispensary, Affinity Boston, will likely be opening at the end of the month or beginning of December, and a proposal has been submitted for another, recreational dispensary in the neighborhood.

Affinity Boston, located at 591 Albany Street, will be the second dispensary opened by the company, after its other location in West Springfield, which is also medical-only.

The company’s president, Vin Giordano, said he hopes the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission will vote to allow the store’s opening in its November 19 meeting.

“Our key to success has always been working very closely with the community,” Giordano said.

Giordano said that Affinity, which is owned by Liberty Compassion, Inc., began the process of opening the South End store at the beginning of 2018.

They worked with the community and the city to ensure that the store was accepted by the neighborhood, including using a construction company with headquarters nearby, Sleeping Dog Properties.

The store will only be open to medical marijuana customers, although Giordano did leave the possibility open for opening up to adult-use customers in the future.

“I never say never,” he said.

“Provided that we operate safely and successfully, and we have the support of the community, it might be a logical next step.”

Meanwhile, a different company, Redemption Boston, has submitted a proposal for a recreational dispensary at 29-31 Stanhope Street, the former location of The Brahmin Bar.

Geoffrey Reilinger, the proponent of the application, said that this is his fifth attempt since 2014 to open a marijuana dispensary in the Boston area, and hopes that this time he will be successful.

His previous attempts have included Compassionate Organics, at 331 Newbury St., and another store under the Redemption name in downtown Quincy Market.

“Boston gets all these national companies. They don’t get small operators because it costs too much and it’s too time consuming. It’s very hard for the local guy because you have to survive the double process,” Reilinger said, referring to the approval process for dispensaries, which have to go through first the city’s Cannabis Board and then the state’s Cannabis Control Commission. Reilinger was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1996. While trying marijuana to help with sleep issues soon afterwards, he noticed that his MS flare-ups stopped, and has had no problems with the disease for 18 years now. His experience with marijuana inspired him to get into the business.

If the store is allowed to open, Reilinger said that Redemption will offer medical card holders a 15 percent discount to offset the higher tax rate on recreational cannabis. That way, the store will still pay the taxes, but they won’t be passed along to patients. Stacy Koeppel, executive director of the Ellis South End Neighborhood Association, declined to comment until the community group learns more about the application.