The Aurora City Council voted Monday night to approve a Denver-based nonprofit as the lease holder and operator for its homeless navigation campus.

Purchased by the city in January, the proposed Aurora Regional Navigation Campus will consolidate services for homeless people in one location once it is established in early 2025, according to city plans.

In early July, city staff sent out a request for proposals to nonprofit agencies seeking an operator for the campus. The city received proposals from the Salvation Army, Comitis and Advance, Inc.

After reviewing the submissions, city staff recommended Advance, Inc., according to council documents.

The lease term is three years initially, with the option to extend it for up to 10 years in two-year increments.

The campus will have three tiers, the first of which will be a “low-barrier” shelter with congregate housing for people who need services but aren’t working with case managers yet.

The second tier will require people to work part time, including jobs in and around the facility, and participation in programs for addiction and mental health recovery and job training. The second tier will have “materially better” living conditions, Mayor Mike Coffman said.

People in the third tier will have “even better” living conditions, including a private room.

The goals of the campus fall in line with Aurora’s “tough love” approach to homelessness, which measures success by employment and self-sufficiency rather than how many people are taken off the streets.

That strategy stands in stark contrast to Denver, which has adopted a “housing first” approach, in which the goal is to get people off the streets and offer them services after, regardless of whether they accept the additional help.

An annual homelessness count in Aurora showed that the city saw over a 20% increase in homelessness from 2023 to 2024.

In 2023, there were roughly 572 homeless people in Aurora. This year, the survey counted 697 homeless people — an increase of 125.

The point in time count is a survey of homeless people throughout metro Denver on a single night in January. It seeks to obtain several data points, such as demographics and the reasons for homelessness.

Some 47% of the homeless population in Aurora from the 2024 count were considered “unsheltered.” In 2023, that percentage stood at 28%.