Habitat for Humanity of Bulloch County is putting the building at 201 Johnson St., which houses the nonprofit organization’s office and Spike’s ReStore, up for sale to raise money for continuing Habitat’s core mission of building homes for first-time buyers in need.

As a result, the ReStore – but not Habitat for Humanity of Bulloch County – will close when a buyer is found, said Kathy Jenkins, the local Habitat affiliate’s executive director.

“Cost of construction has just escalated, and we need cash, and the short answer is the building is worth more than we make from the ReStore,” Jenkins said.

The Habitat board and management has placed the property, a 12,950-square-foot warehouse-type building with office on a 1.37-acre lot, up for sale with the Statesboro Properties real estate firm and its president, Nick Propps. The asking price is $499,000, which Jenkins said is meant to be a price for relatively quick sale rather than a higher value Propps advised her might be the maximum.

Jenkins has no timeline for the thrift store’s closure.

“When the building goes under contract, we’ll do a closeout sale at the ReStore,” she said.  “Until then, it’s business as usual, and then we will relocate our office because Habitat is not going anywhere. We’re hoping to rent, like, one those little houses on Zetterower or Savannah Avenue, but I just don’t know  where yet because we don’t know when  we’re going to  sell.”

By “not going anywhere,” she means that Habitat will remain in existence in Bulloch County to continue helping families who qualify and invest “sweat equity” buy homes. A dedication ceremony for the 60th house the Bulloch County affiliate has completed, on Dannie Cartee Road near Portal, is scheduled for Sunday.

“We have three more that we’ve broken ground, but we’re kind of waiting till we get some more funds in for the next steps,” Jenkins said. “Those three are over on Henry Street (in Statesboro).”

Because Habitat’s traditional model for funding home construction is no longer working, selling the ReStore became a necessary business decision for Bulloch Habitat to continue its mission, and members of the board were eventually convinced, she said.

Volunteers concerned

However, three long-time Habitat for Humanity of Bulloch County volunteers – Karen Lavender, Cathy Shriver and Nell Benefield – signed a letter to the editor appearing in this edition of the Statesboro Herald. They state that Spike’s ReStore “has helped homeowners and other local residents furnish their homes with reasonably priced furniture and accessories” in a time of high inflation.

“Following Habitat’s motto of putting God’s love in action, we hope the board will speak with ReStore management and reconsider its decision to close Spike’s ReStore,” the volunteers assert.

Although the ReStore does provide a community service, operating a thrift store is not the organization’s mission, Jenkins said. The reporter did not talk to her about the volunteers’ letter.

“The ReStore’s purpose was just to support Habitat,” she said. “Our mission is a world where everyone has a decent place to live, and we were supposed to raise money through the ReStore, but it’s just not making enough to justify the cost, based on the value of the building.”

If the ReStore’s revenue from sale of donated items were measured against costs such as the mortgage, power bills and insurance that are paid from the office side, the store would barely be breaking even, according to Jenkins. Meanwhile, the value of the building has increased with demand for commercial real estate in the area around West Main and South College Streets, while the costs of home construction have soared.

Home construction costs

Completing a typical three- or four-bedroom home now costs Bulloch Habitat and each prospective homeowner about $110,000, up from about $60,000 when Jenkins started in the executive director role in 2018, she said.

“So what we’re  looking at is other forms of financing from banks and things  like that,” Jenkins said. “The Habitat model was that we used the income from the  purchase  of the house by that homeowner to fund the next house, and also  supported by income from the ReStore, but the costs have increased so quickly that that model is no longer effective. And it’s not just us; it’s every Habitat affiliate all over the country.”

The Bulloch affiliate’s leaders hope, “when things kind of settle out from the real estate market in Statesboro” to re-establish the ReStore at a new location “and have more of the retail experience rather than a warehouse experience,” she said.

The first such store here was started as the Habitat Home Shop by Spike Jones, a local  board member and  volunteer, about 28 years ago. Later, when Habitat established the  ReStore name for similar stores, the one here was renamed Spike’s ReStore in his honor. Jones, now in his mid-90s, still does some volunteer work with the organization once a week.

Habitat moved its headquarters and the ReStore from a previous location on East Cherry Street to the 201 Johnson St. building, which was originally leased, in the summer of 2016. The Bulloch County Board of Tax Assessors database shows a sale from Timothy A. Hunt to Habitat for Humanity of Bulloch County on May 29, 2018, at a reported prices of $160,000, but with the notation “To or from nonprofit organization.” The assessors have since listed the taxable value of land and building as $268,500, but it is tax-exempt to the Habitat, a tax-deductible charity and Christian mission.

Recently, the immediate area has seen new developments, with The Garage at Statesboro Fitness Center relocating to a renovated former auto repair shop at 202 West Main St. next door, and Antoinette’s Café & Kitchen reviving a previous restaurant location at 193 W. Main.

Propps, the real estate agent, described this as a “booming area with excellent exposure and high traffic counts.” He had yet to add 201 Johnson St. to his online commercial listings Wednesday, but confirmed the $499,000 list price.

The building features drive-in bays and loading docks and, after improvements made for the ReStore, is fully air-conditioned, with a full sprinkler system, 1,500 square feet of office space and “lots of flexibility,” he said.