The Houston City Council heard extended public comment Tuesday on the proposed Emancipation Center, a city plan to acquire and operate 419 Emancipation as a short‑term “super hub” for people experiencing homelessness, with a formal council vote scheduled for Wednesday.

Supporters — including operators and nonprofit housing providers — urged the council to approve the site as an immediate step to centralize shelter, navigation and health services. Opponents urged delay, saying the community lacked timely notice, fiscal transparency and a clear safety plan.

Why it matters: Council members and residents framed the decision as both urgent and consequential. Proponents said the hub could remove people from dangerous street encampments and connect them to housing and clinical care; critics said a rushed purchase and inadequate neighborhood engagement risked long‑term harm to nearby families, schools and parks.

Preston Witt, who identified himself as the current operator of the City of Houston’s navigation center, Harmony House, told the council the proposed Emancipation Center would be “a short‑term center” intended to route people to appropriate services and that staff aim for stays no longer than 30 days. Witt described the navigation center’s current operations to illustrate capacity needs: the navigation center has 112 beds, was about 72% occupied at the time of his testimony, and the average length of stay has grown to about 78 days when housing placements are scarce.

Katie Stewart Anchando, director of real estate development for New Hope Housing, said New Hope supports the city’s planned purchase and operation of 419 Emancipation if the site is run “responsibly and transparently.” Anchando, whose organization operates supportive housing in the East End, told council that a well‑run hub can “be a first step” toward placing people into permanent housing but emphasized that permanent supportive housing must follow.

Opponents pressed two principal lines of criticism: process and price. Maddie Egan, a neighborhood resident who said her home is within walking distance of the proposed site, said residents had received “no town halls, no neighborhood notices, no opportunity for residents to ask questions or give input” before the project was announced. Egan urged the council to pause the proposal until the city publishes the data and performance metrics that will be used to judge the hub’s effectiveness.

Maria Tapia Cavanaugh, a Second Ward resident and small business owner, said the area already experiences “safety issues, open drug use, and mental health crises on our streets” and demanded a written, enforceable safety plan before the hub opens. “We are not against helping people in need,” she said, “we simply want assurance that families already living here will remain safe.”

Several speakers questioned the reported purchase price for 419 Emancipation. Multiple public commenters said the city is negotiating a purchase of $16,000,000 for the property while the cited assessed or prior values were about $6.5 million; Wayne Dolcefino, a longtime local journalist, said the timing and valuation “smell bad” and touted a state notice law he said requires 90 days’ public notice when a site is converted to a shelter. Scott Singleton, a community member, alleged the nonprofit operator had received federal grants for improvements and argued the council should not approve a sale that would enable a rapid private profit.

Mayor John Whitmire responded to public safety concerns by saying the area will receive intensified attention from Houston Police Department and other agencies if the hub proceeds. Whitmire said HPD would reposition the HOTT (Homeless Outreach Team) to the site as a base of operations, adding officers and clinicians, and that the city will “not allow them to be on the sidewalk, laying around the way they’ve been for years.”

Council members said community engagement is still possible. Council Member Adam Castillo noted that a town‑hall meeting is scheduled for Thursday at 6 p.m. at the TBH Center off Jensen, and he encouraged residents to attend. Council Member Pollard and others said members can “tag” the item to delay the vote by a week; council members repeatedly urged constituents who had questions to submit them so staff could respond before a final vote.

Several service providers and faith leaders urged approval, arguing that the physical site, staffing and wraparound services make it the best available option to reduce street homelessness now. Pastor Michael Patterson described long experience working with people living outside and said the city needed “compassionate solutions.” New Hope’s Anchando also warned that without investment in permanent supportive housing, a hub could become a bottleneck rather than a path to stability.

Clarifying details recorded at the meeting: speakers said the city is negotiating to purchase the property at roughly $16,000,000 (described by multiple commenters as about $10,000,000 over a cited $6,500,000 assessed value); Preston Witt reported a navigation center capacity of 112 beds and current occupancy around 72%; Witt said the navigation center’s average length of stay rose to about 78 days because of limited housing placements; speakers claimed a prior offer near $5.9 million and referenced roughly $3–3.5 million in federal funds paid to a nonprofit operator for prior operations (commenters disagreed on precise accounting). All price and funding figures are reported as stated in public comment and were not confirmed in the council chamber.

What the council did (procedural): at Tuesday’s meeting council members adopted routine minutes and approved a procedural suspension to add a late speaker—motions recorded earlier in the session. No final council vote on acquisition or operations for 419 Emancipation was taken during the meeting; members said a vote was scheduled for the next business day.

Background: Councilmembers and city staff previously discussed the site at the Quality of Life committee on Oct. 6; recordings are posted on the city’s HTV portal, Castillo said. The proposed Emancipation Center has been presented by the mayor’s office as a short‑term triage and navigation hub intended to link unsheltered people to shelter, medical care and long‑term housing resources.

Next steps: Council members said they may tag the item to allow more time for community input; a city‑sponsored town hall is scheduled for Thursday evening and the formal council vote was announced as occurring Wednesday. Supporters and opponents both said they plan to continue outreach to the council in the coming days.

Ending: The council faces a near‑term decision that council members described as urgent but potentially controversial. If approved, the Emancipation Center will become a focal point for both service delivery and neighborhood oversight; if delayed, council members and advocates said the city still needs new capacity to move people from street encampments into services and housing.