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News Article
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Habitat for Humanity needs space for ReStore
By Robert Gray
Habitat for Humanity has been looking for warehouse space in El Paso so it can open a Habitat ReStore for more than a year, but now it has a deadline.
The U.S. Bowling Congress has offered the non-profit enough building materials to construct about four houses.
But Habitat doesn’t have enough space to store what will probably amount to 30 truckloads of building materials, according to Aaron Smith, media relations manager for the women’s championships.
Habitat ReStores are outlets that accept donated goods for resale. Every ReStore is a little different, but the focus is what you find at a hardware store – building materials, doors, windows, cabinets, toilets, carpet.
When the Bowling Congress Women’s Championship tourney leaves town in early July, the materials used to transform the El Paso Convention and Performing Arts Center into a tournament grade, 48-lane bowling facility, including vender and office space, squad room and locker area, will be thrown away and recycled if the non-profit can’t find storage, Smith said.
“We are in the final hours of having to find space,” said Muriel Hall, executive director of Habitat for Humanity El Paso. “It’s imperative that we have our sign hung somewhere by the beginning of July.”
There are about 500 ReStores nationally, and Hall said they have been looking for warehouse space for a couple years so they can implement the concept here. The space would also store building materials from the convention center.
The donated goods are sold to the general public at a fraction of the retail price, and the proceeds are used to fund the construction of more Habitat homes.
But right now, the non-profit operates out of an office about the size of an elementary school classroom and has limited storage space.
Hall said they would like to rent a 15,000-20,000-square-foot building with a loading dock. They hope to find space in central El Paso, she said, so the store is easily accessible to all parts of the city.
They also need a few months of discounted or free rent to get on their feet.
“It is going to take a couple months to create the kind of income stream we need to really support a location that is that large,” Hall said.
But Hall is confident that there is demand for the store. She said they receive calls regularly inquiring if there is a ReStore here.
“Because we have such a large influx of people from outside of El Paso, we get a lot of people who will show up at our office looking for the Habitat ReStore,” Hall said.
Bobby Bowling IV, president of Tropicana Homes, said that the concept sounds like something that builders and contractors here could really benefit from.
“Anytime you do a custom job it’s nearly impossible to get the materials estimate exact. The ReStore should be a pretty good deal,” Bowling said.
The Mesilla Valley Habitat for Humanity has operated a ReStore in Las Cruces, N.M., for about four years at 2301 S. Main.
“Our following now is really, really big,” said Ed Johnson, executive director of the Mesilla Valley Habitat for Humanity. He said they have people come to the ReStore from as far away as Deming.
Two of the four homes they built last year, he said, were funded by the ReStore.
Since it became active in 1988, El Paso’s Habitat for Humanity has built or renovated 46 homes, Hall said. For the past several years, they have built four houses per year on average.
“We would love to go from four builds per year to 10, and the Restore could really help us to meet that goal,” she said.
So far, they have built one home this year.
“It seems a little premature,” Hall said, “since they just started the tournament but, from our standpoint, we are looking forward to July.”
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| Suzanne Fabian - posted: 5/7/2010 6:47:02 PM
how about space in the NE? There's a boarded up Golden Corral over there on Dyer/Hondo Pass, don't know if they have a dock but the space is there or is a free-standing building too much money to rent? | |
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