South Austin neighborhood continues pushing back against homeless center's new location

Neighborhood pushes back on homeless center

The city of Austin is eyeing a new site for a Homeless Navigation Center. While the city has not announced which nonprofit will run the center, it has brought on some confusion.

AUSTIN, Texas - The city of Austin is eyeing a new site for a Homeless Navigation Center.

While the city has not announced which nonprofit will run the center, it has brought on some confusion.

What they're saying:

"We're in some of the final stages of acquiring a new site to have a housing navigation center where we can move Sunrise's current operation to," Austin City Council member Ryan Alter previously told FOX 7.

And the potential acquisition has caused concern in the community.

"We just heard it through the media that this was a possible location, and so my first reaction was shocked, like, oh my god, this is coming right next to us, and we haven't been informed, said Shilpa Nair, General Manager of La Quinta Inn.

Pushback against homeless center's new location

Tensions were high over the possible relocation of a controversial homeless navigation center. People gathered for an in-person meeting on the new location.

The La Quinta Inn sits just one door down to where the city is looking to put the homeless navigation center.

The site will serve as a hub for at-risk households seeking housing stabilization services, and will provide support for the homeless.

"The bottom line here is we are building the capacity that we need to serve more individuals today in Austin. We have more housing opportunities and more housing resources to help people get off the street and stay off the streets than we’ve ever had before, and we also have more shelter beds than ever before," said David Gray, Austin's homeless strategy officer.

The hotel says it is already struggling with crime on the property.

"As we started talking to more neighbors around us, everybody's concern was the crime and the drugs that are already happening in the area. And now we're concerned about how much more of that is going to happen," said Nair.

City misses meeting on homeless center's new location

?The City of Austin is in its final stages of relocating its Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center, which has long been under scrutiny from the community. However, the proposed new location is also facing some pushback.

General manager, Shilpa Nair, says new ownership took over the property just months ago.

"Regularly they come in, and they want a place to sleep, and so they'll break into our rooms. They'll break the windows, they broke the door, they will steal our linen, and they just make this their home, which really creates an issue for us," said Nair.

She says that means multiple calls to 911 as a result.

"If this site were to be chosen as a location, I would love an opportunity to have a space in their for APD to come. I think it's important to be part of what's going on in the area to understand. We talk about calls for service, cops not showing up, you calling 311, and I understand your frustration. I’m frustrated as well," said APD Chief Lisa Davis.

Residents against proposed homeless center

Sunrise Navigation Center, Austin?s largest homeless service provider, is in the final stages of relocating. FOX 7 Austin's Alec Nolan finds that residents in the proposed new location are not happy about it possibly moving to their neighborhood.

The city says the location is not near any public parks, has transit connectivity, and says the interface with single-family residences is minimized. It's near the Southbridge Shelter as well.

In a Q&A meeting on Tuesday, the homeless strategy office said a city-run facility would come with greater oversight compared to other faith-based centers.

FOX 7 reached out to the homeless strategy office for comment, and they deferred us to APD.

The city is scheduled to vote on the new site on October 9.