News & Events

10/1/2004
University Village Thousand Oaks "Restores" Wood From Old Red Barn

Premium Redwood Donated to Habitat for Humanity Ventura County

University Village Thousand Oaks, the new 65-acre continuing care retirement community in Thousand Oaks, Calif., has donated more than $5,000 worth of premium redwood salvaged from an old barn on the property to Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore in Oxnard, Calif. All proceeds from ReStore, which sells new and used building materials to the public, are used to create affordable housing for needy Ventura County families.

A 950-square-foot barn made with redwood planking had been on the Thousand Oaks property located at 3721 Campus Dr. since the early 1980’s. The horse barn, which had not been used for many years, had to be removed prior to the start of construction. Although the development team at University Village wanted to recycle the wood, redwood deteriorates very slowly and isn’t suitable as ground-up wood for soil amendments. The team then hit upon a different way to recycle: Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore outlet.

“Not only was recycling in this case not feasible, it seemed a shame to dispose of such nice wood in that manner,” said Nick Blackburn, project manager for University Village. “The redwood was still in its original planks, and we thought it would be perfect for a home or deck somewhere.”

Blackburn then remembered that Habitat for Humanity sponsors a ReStore in Oxnard, so he gave them a call.

ReStore was happy to take the wood as long as all of the nails were removed. At a cost of $7,500, University Village hired workers to demolish the barn, clear the nails and prepare the wood for pickup. ReStore arrived with a one-ton truck but still had to make two trips in order to transport the entire load. The redwood was delivered to the ReStore thrift shop where it was put up for sale to the public.

With the horse barn removal, site work on the new community’s infrastructure can begin and is scheduled to start by the end of this year or the beginning of next. Representatives from University Village said that development of the new community is on track, with building construction set to begin second quarter of 2005.

“We are absolutely thrilled to have joined with Habitat for Humanity to create a win-win situation for everybody,” said Warren Spieker, vice president of Continuing Life Communities Thousand Oaks LLC, the owner/operator of University Village. “We needed to clear the site so that construction could start on our new community for seniors, and Habitat will be able to help more families with their housing needs. I can’t think of a better use for the old barn.”

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