June 2016, the Vasquez family was living in an apartment on 29th Street when they were displaced by the massive Cole Hardware fire that devastated several adjacent buildings on the block.

This month, the family returned home to their restored apartment. Marty Higgins, the owner of the building at 37 29th Street and CEO of the Harvest dispensary on the ground floor, explains how it happened:

The Vazquez family moved back into a newly renovated apartment on July 1st.

They had to leave after the fire. They were placed in temporary housing that was offered, and then moved into a semi-perm residency until we finished renovations on their apartment.

The family has two kids, and they lost everything. It was heartbreaking to tour their unit, so our ownership group gave them a gift certificate after the fire to help with the little things. Then the Harvest dispensary raised over $2k to help them get settled into their newly renovated apartment.

We’re excited to see the area slowly start to return to normal. We hope the new developments will help this area return to the vibrancy it had before the fire. For now, we’re happy to help the turnaround of the area.

As previously reported, a new building has already been proposed for the former Cole Hardware site at at 3310-3312 Mission Street. As planned, the building would include 8 new homes above a new Cole Hardware store on the ground floor.