AUSTIN (KXAN) — Thursday, the Austin City Council will vote on whether it will allow the city’s Homeless Strategy Office to purchase a property in southeast Austin that could eventually serve as the city’s new housing navigation center.
“We believe strongly that this is a great location for this property,” Austin’s Homeless Strategy Officer, David Gray, said. “It’s bringing critical resources to a neighborhood where many families struggle to maintain their housing and it’s also an area where we have a lot of opportunity to get people back into housing.”
The property, at 2401 S. I-35 Frontage Road, was formerly a motorcycle dealership and is currently leased to a gaming lounge, according to the city of Austin.
The navigation center would serve as a hub for people experiencing homelessness — or at risk of becoming homeless — and would provide services like: helping people apply for affordable housing, crisis response services for “the day-to-day survival needs of individuals experiencing homelessness,” and helping people find resources that would help them stay in their homes.
The purchase could alleviate pressure on a south Austin community that right now has the only navigation center in the city — which is run by Sunrise Community Church, not the city of Austin.
Last year, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against that group “for operating as a common nuisance in violation of Texas law,” KXAN previously reported.
“With only one walk up housing navigation center in Austin, especially at a facility that is not big enough, we are not meeting the current need,” Austin City Council Member Ryan Alter said. “This acquisition will start to address that need.”
But some people who live near the proposed new location are not on board with those services relocating to their neighborhood. And city council is not unanimous on how they may vote.
“My office is still working through our own questions with City staff, and while I want to get to a place where I can support this, if a vote were held today, I would not be able to do so,” Austin City Council Member Zohaib “Zo” Qadri said. “Homelessness has been a priority for me since day one, and I want to ensure any path forward reflects lessons learned and supports both housed and unhoused neighbors with transparency and accountability.”
Thursday, the city held an information session on the proposed new housing navigation center and says the city will continue to engage with the public even after Thursday’s vote.
“A lot of people really support this acquisition and want to see this navigation center be very successful,” Gray said. “We’ve also had some people who have expressed some concerns. And I think that that’s based on what they’ve seen at other navigation centers that are not city-owned, city-operated navigation centers.”
You can share your input or ask questions by emailing homeless.input@austintexas.gov.
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