Its roots dig deep in sustainable practices for downed San Diego County trees – from eucalyptus, avocado, elm and redwood to fir, oak, magnolia and Torrey pines – but San Diego Urban Timber has blossomed into more than just an eco-conscious company.
The tree-mendous Chula Vista-headquartered business run by Dan Herbst and Jessica Van Arsdale is in its 15th year of creating functional furniture and more from trees that otherwise would be discarded.
San Diego Urban Timber has two locations – a woodshop at 922 Industrial Blvd., and an industrial warehouse at 610 Bay Blvd.
The company serves large commercial clients, including recent customers Marriott, San Diego International Airport, The East Village Brewing Company, Civita and HomeFed. It also caters to designers looking for unique furniture and woodworkers looking for unusual wood they can put in their projects. The general public can also purchase products or have custom furniture created.
Co-founder
San Diego Urban Timber
Developers utilize San Diego Urban Timber to answer questions on how to do better for the trees on their properties. Landscape architects come for furniture and material supplies for outdoor projects.
San Diego Urban Timber’s rate for its shop and milling services as well as consultation currently runs about $160 an hour. Its custom projects are based on both board-foot and square-foot costs for materials, with labor considered for each project.
Herbst was inspired to found San Diego Urban Timer after seeing a California Department of Transportation crew removing trees on the roadside. After inquiring what would be the trees’ fate – mostly being used as firewood or being turned into mulch, he was told – he felt compelled to give the trees a new lease on life. After founding the company with a partner who relocated, Herbst eventually teamed up with Van Arsdale.
Since then, the company’s bootstrapped operation has continued to grow into multiple customer bases.
Co-founder
San Diego Urban Timber
“Because we are a local maker serving a local market it is essential that we have positive relationships with our clients,” Van Arsdale said. “They have essentially been our investors, investing in the healthy future of urban forestry through our craftsmanship one piece of furniture at a time.”
Like many companies, San Diego Urban Timber stopped work during the pandemic and survived by renegotiating its lease for reduced rent and applying for PPP loans and grants.
“The pandemic was a total reset,” Van Arsdale said. “As small business owners, success rides on every decision made. Marketing, pricing, availability, ability… it can be a never-ending hustle and feeling like you’re not doing enough. Owning a boutique sawmill in a modern time is a costly venture to do it all legally.”
She said coming out of COVID, the company hired a project manager, grew one full-time employee and was pulling in $60,000 a month. Stress and concern about keeping intact the brand identity and keeping its quality controlled, San Diego Urban Timber downsized last year to regroup and build infrastructure for its wood hub on Bay Boulevard, now in position to be a stronger material supplier to the local market.
The company has been able to work with the development department from the City of Chula Vista for expansion needs.
Development Director
City of Chula Vista
Through the years, San Diego Urban Timber’s wood shop has remained essentially the same size but the city recently licensed it space at a largely abandoned building (formerly part of Rohr Inc.’s credit union) in part to help the company expand but also to help keep vagrants out.
City of Chula Vista Economic Development Manager Miranda Evans called San Diego Urban Timber’s impact “multifaceted through their creations and artistry, commitment to the environment and reuse of wood.”
“They do it all with amazing customer service to bring their client’s visions to life all while telling the story of the wood it came from,” Evans said. “They have created works of art for big clients such as Loews Coronado Bay, The Realm of the 52 Remedies, San Diego Padres to local dining room tables and counter tops. They are visionaries and good stewards of the environment we are proud to have in Chula Vista.”
San Diego Urban Timber
FOUNDED: 2007
CO-FOUNDERS: Dan Herbst and Jessica Van Arsdale
HEADQUARTERS: Chula Vista
BUSINESS: Mill, design and build company using local trees headed for landfill, mulch or firewood.
REVENUE: $500,000
EMPLOYEES: 5-6
WEBSITE: sdurbantimber.com
CONTACT: 619-207-4084
SOCIAL IMPACT: Representing the value of urban trees through craftsmanship, creating social hubs of regenerative practices, shifting the way our communities deal with the lifecycle of urban trees through awareness, education and the changing of arbor policies in the city of San Diego and Chula Vista.
NOTABLE: This year the company won a Spark Award for its work in Balboa Park – creating a “trees to treasure” program in partnership with Friends of Balboa Park, which was featured by National Geographic.
