Last Friday was Nick Garcia’s last day in construction. On Saturday, he joined The Lumber Exchange as our Coffee and Operations Director, starting a new job in the building he helped bring to life.

For Amanda and me, opening the doors was even sweeter knowing Nick would be staying. Over the course of construction, we came to trust Nick enormously, admire the way he worked, and appreciate the person we were getting to know. Having him join our team is one of the happiest outcomes of this whole construction experience.

Building The Lumber Exchange was an incredibly complex project, and as its construction superintendent, Nick carried a great deal of responsibility for bringing it together. There were people and schedules to coordinate, decisions to work through, and details that needed careful attention. Amanda and I cared deeply about how this building would turn out. In Nick, we found someone who took that responsibility as personally as we did.

You can see his incredible attention to detail in the finished building. We also got to see what it took to get there, and how he brought people along with him every step of the way.

Nick connected with his team members and subcontractors, took pride in their work, and inspired them by example. He brought the same care and commitment he asked of the people around him. On a project that required so much from everyone involved, he showed up each day with an attitude that made the work feel possible and worth doing well.

That optimism proved contagious. It had a real effect on the construction site, and it certainly had an effect on us. We came to know an exceptional leader who could hold a high standard while making people feel great about the work they were doing together.

I’m guessing quite a few of you have seen his huge smile around town by now. We were fortunate enough to see it on the job site every day. It’s a pretty good introduction to who he is.

Nick grew up in Honduras and built his career leading construction projects across the United States. This project brought him to Hayward, and while building The Lumber Exchange, he fell in love with the Hayward area and its people. Now he and his wife, Lidia, call it home. Amanda and I know how deeply this place can get into you, and watching them find their home here has been an absolute joy.

Nick had an idea for his new hometown: serve Honduras's extraordinary coffee in the very building he helped bring to life.

Friends of his in Honduras are coffee farmers, and we’ll be featuring their coffee at The Lumber Exchange. Through those friendships, our coffee program has a personal connection to the people growing it. Nick gets to share the work of people he cares about with a community he has come to love.

For a place built around work and gathering, that’s a wonderful foundation.

Coffee has been central to our plans from the very beginning. We’ve always imagined the espresso bar as a place where members, neighbors, and visitors would naturally cross paths. With a good cup of coffee and a warm welcome, a morning stop becomes a familiar routine. A break between meetings can turn into a conversation with someone you’ve been meaning to meet. Over time, those everyday encounters help people feel at home.

Nick will play a big role in shaping that experience. As Coffee and Operations Director, he’ll guide our coffee program and help run the day-to-day operations of The Lumber Exchange. The attention he's given to building this place will carry into the coffee we serve, how our team works together, and the experience you have when you walk through the door to the espresso bar in early November.

We’ve already spent a great deal of time watching him care for this building and the people in it. We’re excited for you to experience that care, too.

Of everything we hoped might happen when we started The Lumber Exchange, this particular story would have been hard to imagine. The person overseeing construction would fall in love with Hayward, make a home here with his wife, and help introduce the community to coffee grown by his friends in Honduras. Then, when construction ended, he would come back the very next morning to begin his own future inside.

Nick helped build a place where other people could find a little more possibility in their work and their lives. Now he’s finding his own here.

Hayward is fortunate to have him. Amanda and I are grateful to call him a friend, a neighbor, and a member of our team.

When we open the espresso bar in November, come by for a coffee and say hello. You’ll recognize the smile.