Marshalling Yard temporary shelter funded through September 2025

AUSTIN, Texas - Austin City Council recently approved a funding extension for the Marshalling Yard, a temporary shelter. 

The Homeless Strategy Office says they've worked to get more than 100 people off the streets ahead of the holidays.

Many of them came from camps in the St. Johns and Riverside Meadows areas. 

Fifty unhoused people went to the Northbridge and Southbridge shelters, and 55 went to the Marshalling Yard.

"We're just really grateful to be able to do that for folks, get them off the street, get them into shelter and get them on a pathway to long-term stable housing," David Gray, Homeless Strategy Officer, said.

Gray says this might not have been possible if it weren't for City Council's recent approval of funding for the Marshalling Yard extension, because people already there would've had to move to other shelters.

The space was warehouse storage for the Austin Convention Center that was temporarily converted into a shelter in 2023 with a capacity of 300. Originally, it was supposed to close next year. Now, it has funding through Sept. 30, 2025. 

About $4.3 million will come from the general fund, and $1.08 million will come from the American Rescue Plan Act, also known as the COVID stimulus package.

"Keeping the Marshalling Yard open is really critical to our team's success," Gray said. "We're also very clear that that's not the permanent solution."

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Earlier this year, the city manager was directed to come up with funding to keep the Marshalling Yard open until another location is found. 

At the time, Council Member Vanessa Fuentes expressed concern about the indefinite timeline and costs. 

"I'm really hopeful that in 2025 we'll be able to identify a new permanent location to replace the Marshalling Yard and that we'd be able to get that new location up and running so we can close the Marshalling Yard and return that warehouse back to its intended original use," Gray said.

Gray says even with the Marshalling Yard open, there's still only one shelter bed in the city for every five people who need it. 

"Part of the work is going to require our community to determine whether we're willing to scale these investments so that we can continue to do the good work," he said.