City Breaks Ground on First Publicly Constructed Shelter

INDIANAPOLIS — The city of Indianapolis broke ground on its first publicly constructed emergency shelter this week.

The Housing Hub is a $32 million project that’s projected to open sometime in 2027. Officials from state and local government and area nonprofits helped break the ground for the shelter on Thursday.

The four-floor facility is located downtown on East Georgia Street near Shelby Street. It will be Indianapolis’s first low-barrier shelter and will include 150 beds for individuals, couples, and families who are homeless.

Indianapolis mayor Joe Hogsett sees this project as a “real, sustainable solution” to a complex problem in the city.

“I believe that when all of these pieces come together with this new housing hub, the impact will be completely transformative,” Hogsett said at the groundbreaking ceremony Thursday.

According to the Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention in Indianapolis, around 1,800 people in Marion County don’t have housing.

The Housing Hub will also include a day center and a housing navigation hub managed by Goodwill Horizon House, the combined entity of the nonprofits Goodwill of Central & Southern Indiana and Horizon House, and Aspire Indiana Health, a nonprofit healthcare system.

Indiana Housing & Community Development Authority provided $20 million for the shelter, while the city government will commit $12 million. The State Legislature approved funding for a low barrier shelter grant awarded to the city late last year.