PAUL AND JUDY LEONARD WITH CHRIS AHEARN

Jan. 15. Our Towns Habitat for Humanity will be subsumed into Habitat for Humanity/Charlotte. The new affiliate will be headquartered in Charlotte.

The Habitat Restore retail operation in Cornelius will remain open as a “signifiant revenue” source for the $55 million (asset) non-profit.

The merger, which will save $6 million over 10 years, will result in an agency serving an area that runs from Pineville through Charlotte and Lake Norman to Statesville. The merger will be effective Feb. 28.

Laura Belcher will be president and CEO of the combined organization.

The three Our Towns ReStores in Cornelius, Mooresville and Statesville “will remain open as they provide significant revenue for our mission,” as well as an office in Lake Norman.

Our Towns Habitat CEO Chris Ahearn will step aside after the merger. It was not immediately clear what changes would occur at the Cornelius headquarters of Our Towns Habitat, but roughly 10 jobs will be eliminated in the merger.

A Charlotte Habitat spokesman said “we are finalizing our staffing plans and will know more about specific titles soon.”

The new organization will have assets of $55 million and revenues of $30 million annually. Since its founding, Habitat Charlotte has served more than 2,000 families, while Our Towns Habitat has served nearly 700 families.

Habitat operations have merged around the country to save costs. Our Towns took over the Iredell  affiliate in 2014.