South Austin Housing Navigation Center
South Austin Housing Navigation Center
On September 3, Austin Homeless Strategies and Operations (HSO) shared its vision for the future of housing navigation and homelessness prevention. . Austin HSO proposed purchase of property at 2401 South Interstate Highway 35 Service Road 78741 to serve at-risk households seeking stability, and to provide essential support for unhoused residents who are on their journey home.
On October 9, following over one month of public engagement, the Austin City Council heard public comment on Item 17. Following public comment, a majority of the Austin City Council voted to authorize negotiation and execution of all documents and instruments necessary or desirable to acquire the property located at 2401 South Interstate Highway 35 Service Road 78741.
In response to input gathered during the initial public engagement phase that was conducted from September 3 - October 8, Austin HSO staff will now begin to facilitate the development of community advisory body that will serve as the primary pathway for neighborhood consultation related to the future housing navigation center. The public comment form on this page has now been closed, but questions may still be submitted from the Questions and Answers tab.
The Austin HSO team thanks all residents who shared their ideas, concerns, and aspirations for the housing navigation center project. We look forward to working with many of you in the months and years to come.
What is a Housing Navigation Center?
Housing navigation seeks to identify opportunities to sustain or obtain safe and stable housing.
For households that are experiencing housing instability, the navigation center can serve as a hub to address root factors of stability and to prevent homelessness. Root factors may include healthcare access, income and employment, lease adherence, housing quality, and family safety. Housing navigators help households problem solve before crisis happens.
For individuals that are already experiencing homelessness, the navigation center can help meet basic needs and to take next steps. Basic needs include food, water, hygiene resources, clothing, healthcare access, medication storage, and a mailing address. Next steps include obtaining vital documents necessary for employment, accessing crisis shelter, completing a housing assessment, applying for mainstream benefits, and pursuing more specialized support.
Why is the City of Austin Investing in Housing Navigation Centers?
Austin Homeless Strategies and Operations (HSO) is committed to investing across the spectrum of our local homelessness response system to reduce the incidence of new homelessness and to reduce the total number of people who are living unhoused in our community. Navigators are an essential piece of HSO's efforts to work upstream of homelessness by connecting at-risk households to focused and cost-effective prevention services. When homelessness can't be averted, unhoused residents need reliable access to well managed, safe, and professional support.
Why Has this Location Been Selected?
City staff conducted an extensive search for suitable real estate. The property and building located at 2401 South Interstate 35 Frontage Road offers numerous benefits:
- Not adjacent to elementary, middle, or high schools. The future housing navigation center is separated from the nearest school by 15 lanes of interstate highway and frontage roads, and is approximately a 10 minute walking distance away.
- Not adjacent to public parks. The property is approximately .5 miles from the nearest park.
- Transit connectivity. Multiple transit lines run through the area. The future navigation center has adequate parking and room to accommodate a circulator shuttle to reduce pedestrian traffic.
- Minimizes single family residential interface. Due to the property's orientation along the I-35 service road, interface with single family residences is minimized.
- Proximity to communities with social service needs. Residents near the east Oltorf and East Riverside corridors experience homelessness at higher rates than other areas of our community. Bringing service connections near vulnerable low-income households helps prevent homelessness before it happens.
- Abundant space for indoor services. At approximately 12,000 square feet, the building is large enough to accommodate a predominantly indoor service delivery model that will orient utilizers to a professional and safe environment that signals clear behavioral expectations through intentional design.
- Opportunity for more curb appeal. Lawns on all four sides of the property offer enough space to incorporate colorful landscaping and tall green barriers that create a welcoming oasis in the midst of the surrounding urban landscape.
- Durability. The modernest building, comprised of concrete and steel, is designed to withstand.
- Turnkey. Due to recent upgrades the building is in good condition and requires only modest enhancements to support occupancy and programming.
- Worker safety and comfort. Abundant natural light combined with controlled points of entry to the property and office will enable workers in a high-stress field to benefit from a dignified, controllable, and safe environment.
What Else is Nearby?
Southbridge Shelter. Located just a few doors away from the future housing navigation center, Southbridge has been one of the primary destinations for individuals served by the HEAL Initiative since 2021. Austin HSO works with analysts at the Austin Police Department to review crime statistics at and around Southbridge. This pre-acquisition/post-acquisition comparison, represented in the adjacent chart, reveals calls to APD for service have declined steadily since the property was converted to a homeless shelter over four years ago. This downward trend in calls for service is a result of HSO's partnership with police, social service professionals, clients, and neighborhood stakeholders.
Our Neighborhood Commitment
Elevating neighborhood climate is essential to the success of the many Austinites who reside at the Southbridge shelter, located just a few doors down from the future housing navigation center. In collaboration with many partners, Austin HSO tracks and works neighborhood concerns to resolution. View the map below to see where we're making progress in the East Oltorf neighborhood.
Click on a map icon above to see more details about the status of each logged concern.
Map Key
 | Resolved encampment |  | Resolved public safety concern |
 | Resolved litter |  | Completed location monitoring, no concerns identified |
 | Pending encampment resolution |  | Existing and future housing and homeless services facilities |
 | Active encampment |  | Active, unresolved public safety concern |