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When Holly Hart decided to close her restaurant, Old Wives’ Tales in East Portland, it was bittersweet … somewhat.

“It is and it isn’t,” she said. “I put in 34 years, and I’m a hands-on, on-my-feet owner. I didn’t sit in an office, and (at) 67 years old, even though I’m in good health, I was starting to notice physical limits. I couldn’t do all the lifting I used to do, or all the running I used to do.”

Then a couple of key employees moved away, leaving Hart short-staffed as the busy Mother’s Day holiday approached. She was already considering retirement, and so rather than hire and train new employees for mere weeks, she decided to close shop early – on May 4.

That was just about the time that a local apartment developer asked Hart about purchasing her property at 1300 E. Burnside St. Hart told The Oregonian last week she was under contract to sell the property, and now the name of the would-be buyer has surfaced.

Dennis Sackhoff‘s company, Urban Development Group, has applied to the Bureau of Development Services for early assistance with a potential project at the Old Wives’ Tales address. City records do not indicate a planned project size or scope, but Urban Development Group has constructed numerous mid-rise apartment buildings throughout the city. UDG project manager David Mullens declined to comment, and Sackhoff could not be reached.

Hart said the sale is scheduled to close mid-June. Meanwhile, she’s making a big push of her own. Last week, she heard on NPR about a retiring hardware store owner who was donating the contents of his store to charity. A light bulb went off.

“I had been trying to figure out how to dispose of 34 years of equipment and furnishings for a 170-seat restaurant,” Hart said. “We have a lot of stuff here, and at one point we were doing really high volume, so we have just an incredible amount of kitchen equipment.”

Rather than auctioning off her equipment for pennies on the dollar, Hart is donating it all – pots, pans, tables, chairs and more – to local charities. She already has offered truckloads to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Portland Metropolitan Area, the Community Warehouse, the St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church Dining Hall, and Sisters of the Road. But more items remain, and Hart is encouraging other interested groups to send her an email at [email protected].

“To me, (it’s about) disposing of the assets in the way that they can be the most socially productive,” she said. “They may not add to my bank account the most, but the best use of these assets is not through a commercial auction, but giving them to groups that can put them to good use feeding people in this community.”

Hart also plans to eventually make available some of her more popular recipes.

“I feel like it’s kind of a moral duty to my customers,” she said. “I mean seriously …”