Neighbors voice concerns about new homeless center opening near downtown Houston

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Arbra Felix has been homeless for the past two years.

"I'm getting too old. I'm 64 years old," he said. "I can't live on the ground for the rest of my life."

The sidewalk Felix sleeps on just east of downtown Houston is a glaring illustration of the extremes in our city.

It's just down the road from an almost-completed fan festival celebrating what's being called the world's largest sporting event.

Within the same half-mile area, the city's new homeless service center is set to open soon at Emancipation Street and Prairie Avenue.

City officials say it will eventually hold 222 people.

"This is a housing issue, a law enforcement issue, and a mental health issue," Mike Nichols, the city's director of Housing and Community Development, said.

Harris Health will be responsible for operations.

CEO Wayne Young took ABC13 on a tour, showing us places for health, rehabilitation, and social services.

"We want to be able to meet as many of their needs as can," Young said. "Because, honestly, in those transitions and people going off somewhere else, you run the risk that they don't come back."

This center has been controversial since Mayor John Whitmire first proposed it.

Those who live around the center crowded town hall meetings, saying they're worried it'll bring crime and traffic.

Then, there were delays in inspections and finding an operator.

This building was previously a women's shelter, then a facility for unaccompanied migrant children.

The City of Houston purchased the building last October for $16 million, which drew criticism because it's about $9 million above its appraised value.

Officials say the center will cost $10 to $14 million a year to operate, but their goal is to eventually cover those costs.

"A lot of these individuals, because they are sick, and because they are living on the streets, they're not taking medications. A lot of times they can go into crisis," Chief Larry Satterwhite, the head of Houston Police Public Safety and Homeland Security, said. "That's when the officers are being called, so now we have officers responding and the community being affected."

Chief Satterwhite said, HPD officers, METRO police, Harris County deputies, and private guards have been assigned to provide security here day and night.

Outreach teams, he said, will bring people to the center.

"One of the challenges is they have been saying, 'Well, Chief, we just don't have a place to take them.' We can move them three blocks and say, 'You can't be here,' but then they go down three blocks," he said. "All we were doing was moving the problem and having more of the surrounding communities impacted by that, too."

The biggest hurdle now, officials acknowledge, will be convincing homeless Houstonians like Arbra to come.

"I'm not trying to make anything complicated. No," he said.

The latest report from the nonprofit Coalition for the Homeless shows that during a recent housing surge, about 40% of those approached declined services.