House Below Lowe's Goes to Good Cause

News / Consumer

By Jason Soifer, The Daily Courier

Thursday, January 08, 2009

The house at the base of the Lowe's now infamous retaining wall has a new lease on life.

A crew from Granillo's Mobile Home Service spent a few days earlier this week dismantling the manufactured home and taking it on its final journey up Highway 89 Thursday morning.

Many residents remember the saga that began in December 2007 when a section of the brick-like face on the 65-foot-high wall at the base of the Lowe's parking lot fell near homes in the Prescott Canyon Estates community.

While the big box home improvement chain continues to oversee wall repairs, the home's future is bright as it gets a new lot to sit on and eventually a new family to enjoy it.

"We're absolutely appreciative Lowe's was thinking of us," said Miriam Haubrich, executive director of the Prescott Area Habitat for Humanity. "It is a wonderful opportunity for us to put another family in a home."

Haubrich said the crew will move the roughly 1,400-square-foot home to a lot in Chino Valley.

She added that the average habitat home is 1,100 square feet.

It will take another few weeks to reassemble the home, connect it to the utilities and do a little rehabilitation on the home that includes some painting, new carpet, building a porch and perhaps adding a carport or storage unit, according to Haubrich.

Karen Cobb, public relations manager for Lowe's, said the company bought the property on River Trail Road in January 2008.

A Lowe's representative called Haubrich this past April to gauge interest in the home because a crew would have to move the home to make wall repairs.

Haubrich said holidays, logistics, finding a crew to move the home and transferring title took time.

"It took longer than anyone expected; we were just very patient," she said. "We didn't want to advertise or look for a family until we knew it was going to happen."

Cobb said the retailer is active in affordable housing and a partner with Habitat for Humanity International and a national underwriter for Habitat's women's build program.

"We're happy to make the donation to the Prescott Habitat affiliate so that it can then be usable for creation of affordable housing in the community," she said.

And the non-profit saves money on construction costs.

The non-profit sells three-bedroom homes to families for $135,000 with a 30-year mortgage.

Haubrich said a typical Habitat-built home usually means the tenants pay a mortgage of around $450 to $500 a month.

"By doing it this way, it gets a family in at an affordable payment," she said. "This house should really be about half that."

Later this month, Haubrich said they will have a regular orientation and get a family in the home around April.

The family that moves in is required to meet Habitat's criteria, which includes investing some sweat equity; showing their current living conditions are substandard; and that they are spending at least half their monthly income on rent.

Haubrich said 11 families are waiting for a home.

Meanwhile, work will begin on three new home construction sites in the first three months of this year and Haubrich said they plan to finish work on seven homes this fiscal year.

It all comes down to giving a family like Isabel Yribe's a chance at a better life.

Yribe, her husband, four children and dog moved into a four-bedroom Habitat home in Chino Valley in March 2007.

That allowed Yribe and her family more space and freedom.

Yribe said they can now focus on other things, like her children's schoolwork.

"At the end of it all, you have a place to sleep, the kids are safe, it's warm," she said. "Everything else can come and go and the house is still there."

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