The Salvation Army is selling the site of its shelter for homeless Austinites downtown.. The national nonprofit retained the developer CBRE to sell the site, which is expected to fetch millions.
Salvation Army Austin Commander Major Lewis Reckline said profits from the sale will go toward programs at the nonprofit's two other shelters in Austin, which are currently full."We are committed to thoughtfully reinvesting the proceeds from the sale of the downtown building in the local community," he said in a joint announcement with CBRE.
Reckline said there is currently a 500-person waitlist for The Salvation Army's family shelters, which focus on helping women and children transition out of homelessness. CBRE touted the downtown property, suggesting the three tracts had"the potential to develop more than 230,000 sq. ft. of mixed-use development."
All told, the site includes the lot that housed The Salvation Army's shelter at Eighth and Red River streets, a 1,500-square-foot building on Red River and a half-acre parking lot on the same street.the closure of the shelter in February, citing costs of services and maintenance for the building, which was constructed in the late '80s.