Modesto’s Habitat for Humanity making moves, planning uses for surprise $2 million gift
While they’re more accustomed to helping other people find homes, Habitat for Humanity has found a new, larger home for its popular ReStore shop.
The planned move for the Stanislaus County chapter of the nonprofit organization, which builds homes for low-income families, comes at the same time the group is developing plans for a surprise $2 million donation it received at the end of last year.
Open for two decades in Modesto, the ReStore sells second-hand, donated and overstocked home improvement materials and furnishings. But after years at its current Kearney Avenue location, across from a U.S. Post Office branch, the shop is moving to an empty warehouse on Tenaya Drive, across from the Modesto airport.
Habitat Stanislaus CEO Anita Hellam said the move will give them more space, easier parking and better inside and outside store visibility. The store is currently in a cramped complex on Kearney, which shrunk further about six months ago when one of the buildings they had been using was sold.
Hellam said they found the 35,000 square-foot building on Tenaya around last Thanksgiving, and they’ve been making plans for the location since. They currently have about 25,000 square feet of space.
The decision to focus on the ReStore, which generates about a $1 million in annual sales, was to help the charity better serve its overall mission. Hellam said they realized they had “a bird in hand” when it came to the shop, which has grown so successful over its 20 years offering discounted remodeling supplies that its profits cover all of the nonprofit’s operational costs.
“We think it’s a strategic and good move for the organization,” Hellam said. “(The ReStore) is established with donors and shoppers. We realized if we paid more attention in organizing it and improving its layout, we will be able to do more of our mission and increase revenue for our mission.”
The move will take the organization out of the Kearney location, where they’ve been in some form for about 16 years. The administrative offices will be moved downtown this summer, with a planned mid-June opening. And then Hellam said they hope to have the new ReStore site open by August, when they have to vacate their existing site.
Plans have been submitted for improvements inside the warehouse, so Hellam said their renovation and opening timeline depends on how quickly the approval process can be finished.
The ReStore first opened in downtown Modesto on Seventh Street in 2002, making it the fourth oldest in the state. The store, which sells an eclectic and ever-changing variety of remodeling supplies and home furnishings, remained open throughout the pandemic for both shopping and donations.
In fact, Hellam said with so many people doing home improvement and remodeling projects while staying home because of COVID-19, the store saw its donations and sales increase in the past couple years.
But the largest donation in the group’s history came as a surprise. The anonymous donor gifted them with a $2 million donation of land in Turlock in late December. Hellam said the donor, who is from outside of Stanislaus County, gifted around 100 chapters across the country with land parcels.
The land, at 400 Crane Avenue a block southeast from Turlock’s Main Street, is currently undeveloped. The 9 parcels had previously been approved for a 134-unit development. But since those plans fell through the land is now Habitat’s to develop.
Hellam said they hope to build a multi-use housing project on the site that partners with public and private organizations. The group envisions a combination of traditional units and townhouses. She said they hope to be able to break ground in maybe two and a half to three years.
“This is a whole new phase for Habitat,” she said. “We’ve only just started meeting with a group of people and potential partners. We are now in the dreaming stage.”
