Lansing — Habitat for Humanity Lansing officials celebrated their new home Tuesday — happy they are no longer renting a cramped space to hold its operation.

In 2005, Habitat purchased a building at 1941 Benjamin Drive, which, at the time, was only a shell and now, two years and almost 50,000 volunteer hours later, the organization has a place to call home.

"Our goal is to build decent, affordable housing and now we finally have our own home that's up to those standards," said Heather LaFave, the organization's family-support manager.

Volunteers and staff conducted tours of the new facility.

Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero and Rep. Joan Bauer, D-Lansing, cut a green ribbon to signify the official opening.

The Benjamin Drive build official opening.

The Benjamin Drive building includes a warehouse that stores materials and allows volunteers to start prefabrication of door frames, window frames and other materials before tackling a housing project.

The construction warehouse also includes a tool storeroom called Dick's Place.

The warehouse is named after Dick Place, a volunteer and crew member who passed away before the opening of the new building.

Sixth-grade volunteers from the Lansing Montessori Children's House built a kid's corner in the construction warehouse for youth volunteers.

In addition to the administrative offices and warehouse, the new building houses ReStore, a used building supplies store. At the new location, ReStore nearly tripled in size to 6,500 square feet.

"The ReStore will now be able to operate at a larger scale which will bring in more money for more houses," LaFave said, adding that the revenue from ReStore goes directly to the organization's housing projects.

All of the shelving and counter tops in ReStore came free from a Kmart that was closing in Indiana.

"They said we could take anything as long as we demolished it and of course we sent volunteers down there," said Sara Casetta, resource coordinator and assistant construction supervisor for the organization.

The ReStore is now open to the public Tuesday to Friday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The new building will allow Habitat to help more people. Currently Habitat builds seven homes each year and aims to increase to 10 per year by 2011.

The organization received donations from various companies in the greater Lansing area.

The most generous donors' names are displayed on plaques in the front entrance of the building.