GAF assisted a Community-Focused Salvage and Reuse Business Open its Second Location.
Originally operating in one location in Seattle, Washington, the business model at Second Use is designed around environmental stewardship. The company’s vision is to reuse instead of dispose as all their materials come from the local community and are repurposed in the local community. The company primarily salvages reusable building materials and sells them to the general public in a retail store. Its products include cabinets, doors, windows, lighting fixtures, plumbing fixtures, lumber, furniture, tools and decor items. Second Use also provides services: building salvage (it is a licensed general contractor), light repair and rewiring, and educational workshops.
Second Use serves a wide area of western Washington. Most customers come from about a 30-mile radius from the Seattle store. However, the very strong website presence draws customers from neighboring states. By analyzing their existing customer base and assessing markets in nearby population centers, Second Use saw potential in reaching the Tacoma market with a retail location. Second Use found a suitable building in Tacoma, Washington to open its second location. The new Tacoma retail location has easy access to all local freeways and downtown Tacoma and is located in an up and coming neighborhood, that is a focus of redevelopment by the City of Tacoma.
To assist in acquisition and redevelopment of the new location, GAF provided Second Use with two loans and the City of Tacoma through its EDA funds provided it a third. The first GAF loan of $1,435,000 funded acquisition. After a one-month interest only period, this acquisition loan possesses a term and amortization 25 years with an interest rate of 4.5%. GAF provided a second $310,000 loan to fund the improvements. This loan has a three-month interest only period and possesses with a term and amortization 25 years with an interest rate of 4.5%. Finally, the City of Tacoma provided a $300,000 EDA loan with a term and amortization of 25 years and a fixed interest rate at 75% of prime (2.63%). These funding sources helped offset the $2,230,000 project costs.
GAF is proud to work with our City of Tacoma partners to assist this green business with the loans to achieve its expansion goals!