City meets with business leaders about homeless shelter

There wasn’t a party at Hub City Brewing on Wednesday morning, May 22, but the front part of the building was close to full at 9 a.m.

Owner Jerry Corley opened his doors for local business leaders and members of the City of Jackson leadership to meet together and have a conversation.

That conversation centered around the homeless situation in Jackson, specifically Downtown.

The City had a ceremonial groundbreaking in April of 2023 for a new men’s homeless shelter on McCorry Street, which is near Downtown.

The facility has gone through the design phase three times to try to maximize the use of the facility compared to the price the City will pay for its construction.

The Jackson City Council approved a guaranteed maximum price during its monthly meeting earlier this month of $3.4 million. The facility will be large enough to house up to 89 people, and the recent price approval plus the capacity number caused some in the area to have questions about the project.

“A lot of us haven’t paid the most attention to what’s going on, or I know that I don’t personally,” said Corley, who also owns Rock N Dough Pizza in Downtown and was approved to assume ownership of a vacant lot at the convergence of Airways Boulevard, Main Street and Lafayette Street to begin developing an eight-story boutique hotel. “So when I heard about this new price approval and this capacity, I had questions.

“Other business owners did too, so I proposed having everyone come here to have that conversation.”

City Chief Innovation Officer Lauren Kirk said it was good to have those questions asked and answered by City officials in the room.

“We were glad to field those questions, because it’s not good for people to be in the dark and wonder what was going on,” Kirk said. “So we answered the questions we were asked today and possibly alleviated some concerns.”

The men’s homeless shelter that was approved on May 7 could potentially house 89 people, but Kirk confirmed that won’t be the case.

“Once the facility is built, Tennessee Homeless Solutions will assume the duty of running the day-to-day operations, and their staffing only allows for a number that’s closer to 25 residents,” Kirk said. “Do we have room for 89? Yes, but the only time I foresee the building being used in that way is when we have severe weather and people need somewhere to go for a warming center.”

Mayor Scott Conger, who was at the meeting, has said in numerous public meetings and gatherings the shelter is set to begin construction later this year with completion set for next year.

Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news