There’s a new reason the Hotel del Coronado is so iconic – yes, being the set of Marilyn Monroe’s “Some Like it Hot” film and having multiple presidents visit are both reasons, but the Del has just diverted over 72 tons of furniture from the landfill into the San Diego Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore.
For reference, a ton is about 2,000 pounds. An average car weighs about 4,000 pounds, so about two tons.
The Hotel Del donated 72 tons of furniture to the ReStore, which means around 144,000 pounds went back into the community instead of a landfill.
Back into the community
The Hotel Del is on the final stretch of their seven-year-long renovation project that started with a new lobby and retail spaces and moved into completely redoing and renovating around 350 Victorian guest rooms, suites and event spaces.
Renovations are set to finish by spring of 2025, but before renovations could even happen, the hotel needed to move 350 sets of furniture out of the rooms.
This is where the partnership with San Diego Habitat for Humanity begins.
San Diego Habitat for Humanity has an online store and two locations in San Diego that sell new and used furniture, home furnishings and building materials for a discounted price. It’s called the ReStore.
All proceeds from the sales go back to Habitat for Humanity and their mission to build and provide affordable housing for families in need in San Diego.
One of the things allowing Habitat for Humanity to continue their mission is partnerships, like with the Hotel Del.
“Our corporate support comes in three flavors. There is volunteerism,” President and CEO of San Diego Habitat for Humanity Kwofi Reed says. “We’re very thankful for that. The other two ways are cash support…and then finally, donations, which in some cases are building materials that we will put into the ReStore.”
With the Hotel Del’s partnership, San Diego Habitat for Humanity raised somewhere between $90,000 to $150,000 worth of donations, says Reed.
“They had this incredible system, they are so organized,” Managing Director Sanjiv Hulugalle says. “They’re so thoughtful with the intent of giving back to the community, I think it really aligns us. They’re one of the greatest organizations, not only in Coronado, but in San Diego and in California.”
San Diego Habitat for Humanity looks into getting land to build affordable housing on, building homes and also being the ones to help families get the homes they want through in-house programs, according to Reed.
Affordable housing throughout the country
Affordable housing is not just a Coronado and state-wide issue, it has made headlines nationally for the country’s lack of affordable housing.
San Diego has seen a migration of residents moving out of the city rather than moving in, and it’s due to the unaffordable costs of living in the city, according to an article by the San Diego Union Tribune.
And Coronado has had its own struggles with affordable housing and a housing allocation placed on them by the state through the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG).
Coronado is in the works of placing several hundred units on the island after their housing allocation jumped from 50 to 912 units.
Currently, San Diego Habitat for Humanity is providing affordable homes for San Diego families in need with around 10 homes set to be done within a year, and around 28 additional homes in the works, says Reed.
