As the city of Aurora moves forward with its homeless navigation campus, officials are holding meetings in March to gather feedback from community members and business owners in the surrounding areas.

The city will hold informational meetings for the public to learn about the project, ask questions, and share concerns, staff said at Monday night’s city council study session.

The first meeting, geared toward business owners, will be on March 14 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Aurora Municipal Center located at 15151 E. Alameda Pkwy.

A second meeting, aimed toward residents, will occur on March 28 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the same location. 

Both will be streamed virtually and recordings will be available afterward at EngageAurora.org/NavigationCampus. 

The council voted at a meeting in January to move forward with the purchase agreement for the site of the navigation campus, a 13-acre Crowne Plaza hotel and convention center site at 15550 E. 40th Ave.

Once established, the proposed regional navigation campus will consolidate services for homeless people in one location, a model similar to that of the Colorado Springs Rescue Mission. The center will be the culmination of a year-long exploration by city officials who also traveled to Texas, where they researched strategies to reduce homelessness.

The current property owner plans to stop doing business in coming months and the city is scheduled to close on the property in March. Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman expects to have the campus operational by early 2025.

In total, the city will pay $26.5 million for the property, based on an appraisal prepared by a third-party firm in November.

The city has collected almost $40 million in funds for the project so far, with funding coming from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, Aurora American Rescue Plan, Aurora Housing and Urban Development, Adams County ARPA, Adams County HUD, Arapahoe County ARPA, Douglas County ARPA, and Community Development Block Grant COVID funds.