Aurora City Council to vote on purchasing Crowne Plaza Hotel for navigation campus to assist homeless residents
Aurora City Council is set to discuss and vote on the purchase of the Crowne Plaza Hotel on E. 40th Avenue on Monday. The property would be a regional navigation campus to serve those experiencing homelessness. The proposed purchase comes as an option instead of building a new center.
The topic is scheduled for Monday during the city council meeting.
In a press release, Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman says this option would allow the navigation campus to fruition sooner than expected.
"The resources slated for the campus represent Aurora's unique approach to addressing homelessness in a constructive, rehabilitative way using the work-first model we adopted," said Coffman.
For the last several months, city staff have toured the site and believe it has many amenities that are essential for a fully operational navigation campus.
The amenities include a convention center space that would have emergency and day shelter, an industrial kitchen, industrial laundry, congregate space, and space for service providers to do case management, while offering other services and 255 rooms.
According to the city, the current property owner is scheduled to end its business operations soon. The city would close on the property in May.
"By purchasing this existing facility instead of waiting for construction of a new center to complete, we would be able to provide vital support for those experiencing homelessness in Aurora much more quickly and at a lesser cost," said Jessica Prosser, director of Housing and Community Services.
She adds the facility could be up and running by early 2025.
The $26.5 million purchase price of the facility is based on an estimate by a third-party appraisal firm.
According to the city, it has gathered $39,991,454 in funding from many sources for the navigation project.
The sources include $15,360,852 from DOLA, $5,000,000 from the Aurora American Rescue Plan (ARPA), $3,734,741 through the Aurora Housing and Urban Development (HUD) HOME-ARP, $5,000,000 from Adams County ARPA, $3,270,861 through Adams County HUD HOME-ARP, $5,000,000 through Arapahoe County ARPA, $1,125,000 from Douglas County ARPA, and $1,500,000 from through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) COVID.
Some of the services for the navigation center include:
- Transitional housing
- Employment services
- Workforce development
- Day shelter
- Emergency shelter
- Medical clinic
- Addiction counseling
- Mental health services
- Medical respite beds
- Housing navigation
- Case management
- Meals
According to the city, the staff has consulted with homeless service providers about programing and services the navigation campus would need and provide.
They will connect with community members, businesses and stakeholders in the area to create a good neighbor plan while also engaging with those in the homeless community.
The action taken by city council on Monday will be the first step in the process. However, it is required before making any decisions regarding an operator, campus layout, specific uses and community outreach efforts, which they plan to discuss at future meetings.
Updates and resources regarding the project process can be found here.