The Gainesville City Commission voted unanimously on Oct. 23 to ask staff to bring back a resolution to allow Grace Marketplace to take ownership of the property the homeless shelter sits on.
With Commissioner Desmond Duncan-Walker absent, the six other commissioners voted in favor of the resolution, which will allow the city to no long financially sustain the shelter’s maintenance and capital expenses.
Earlier in the discussion, Commissioner Bryan Eastman said the plan benefits the homeless shelter by allowing it to have control over its own facility and further help to apply for grant money and additional funding.
“It’s like your kids using your car and then you give them the title of the car, and they’re already driving it. It’s not like they have some new asset. Now they pay for the cost of fixing the car and getting the tires changed,” Eastman said.
Eastman called the situation a “classic win-win” and called Grace an organization that has done a lot of magnificent work in the community and takes the burden off the city’s taxpayers.
Eastman added that a reverter clause was placed in the deal which establishes that if the facility is used for other uses besides a homeless shelter, it reverts ownership back to the city.
New Grace Marketplace CEO Darius Williams spoke to the commission and said the city contributes roughly 36% (more than $1.8 million) to the shelter’s $5.1 million annual budget, including in-kind donations.
Mayor Harvey Ward said when the facility opened in 2014, the city and county used to provide nearly 100% of the funding.
“The public funding for Grace has significantly decreased over the years as a percentage of the total expenditure,” Ward said. “It’s a great step forward in the community.”
District II Commissioner Ed Book said via Zoom that this would help diversify the ability for Grace Marketplace to find various monetary streams for the facility, including investing in grants for maintenance and equipment.
“We’re always going to be a major partner in providing services that are need those who are houseless, but we can’t continue obviously to increase our monies every year when there’s other potential sources,” Book said.
Williams added that the property transfer would allow Grace Health Care to move forward on a project to expand health care access at the facility.
Williams said Grace also is working on a grant opportunity with Bright Community Trust on a housing expansion project.
District III Commissioner Casey Willits said the property is valued at $4.6 million and asked interim City Manager Andrew Persons if the city paid anything from the state to initially receive the facility.
Persons said he believed the original property transfer came as part of the state’s surplus policy. Adding homeless support is generally high on the list of preferred uses when the transferring process is involved.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: City of Gainesville to transfer $4.6M homeless shelter property to Grace Marketplace
Reporting by Elliot Tritto, Gainesville Sun / The Gainesville Sun
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