Homeless may find shelter temporary

When two downtown hotels reopened on Main Street in May, taking in people trying to escape homelessness, it was a small ray of hope in the bleak housing picture for the poorest of the poor.

But New Genesis, the nonprofit that's operating the Little and Victory hotels right across from the Greyhound bus station, needs permits from Las Vegas to keep operating -- and city officials aren't keen on the idea.

"We are concerned about the public hearing and (about) making sure that it goes our way," said Page Peary, CEO of the Denver-based New Genesis. "I think Las Vegas very much wants our organization.

"We have an immediate problem, and we have an immediate solution. We have a lot of people we're helping right now."

The organization's fine, but the location isn't, said Mayor Pro Tem Gary Reese, whose Ward 3 includes the hotels.

"I don't think they should have a rescue mission there," said Reese, noting that the downtown core is already home to many charities and social service providers -- and that those resources shouldn't be concentrated in one area.

"As far as I'm concerned we have enough down there. We can start putting them out in Henderson and Boulder City," he said. "I don't think I'm being cruel."

The matter is on the agenda for today's planning commission meeting, which starts at 7 p.m. in City Hall.

The case highlights the many pressing issues in downtown's redevelopment, particularly how renewed interest in building in the area is driving out some of the last cheap housing available for those who have nowhere else to turn.

The Little Hotel and the Victory Hotel have 52 rooms between them. Clark County social workers refer clients to New Genesis, which accepts rental vouchers from the county.

The residents stay for about 60 days while they address any personal issues, such as drug and alcohol counseling, and find work. Then they're eligible for other, more independent housing.

"We have been almost always full," said New Genesis shelter coordinator Jerry Brazelton. "I'm sure there are homeless people waiting to get in."

Glenda Shaw owns the stretch of property in the 300 block of South Main Street. She closed the two hotels last year because they were too expensive and too much of a headache to maintain.

Leasing them to New Genesis isn't lucrative, but the buildings have been spruced up and it's a better option than letting them sit vacant.

"I'm losing money renting it to them. But at least it's helping the city and helping these buildings," Shaw said.

"It's a real problem. Downtown is evolving. Things are changing. But in the meantime you've got all these boarded-up, ugly old buildings."

Shaw's hotels won't house the recently homeless forever. The property is for sale -- she hopes to demolish the existing buildings to make way for a boutique hotel -- and the short-term nature of New Genesis' endeavor is a strike against it.

"I've found that once you do something temporary, it's really, really hard to get them out of there," Reese said.

There's also a convenience store between the hotels that, while closed for now, is licensed to sell liquor, the staff report notes.

While social services and rescue missions are allowed under zoning rules for downtown, "this proposal does not adhere to the intent" of plans calling for commercial, hotel, casino and mixed office/residential development.

"It's in the middle of our redevelopment area," Reese said. "It has to be a compatible-type use."

But if not there, where?

"There's only a handful of places we can find now" that will accept voucher clients, said Linda Lera-Randle El, a longtime advocate who directs the Straight from the Streets homeless program. "The city should not be denying any place that gives us some reprieve.

"We're not Siegfried and Roy out here. We cannot help the people if we have no place to put the people."

Shaw also owns the store between the hotels, and said interest is high in reopening it.

Reese said having a liquor store next to a homeless shelter is "never going to fly," and last week asked that an application to reopen it be put on hold while the issues with the shelter are addressed.

Brazelton said he's not worried about liquor being sold next to a shelter housing people with alcohol and substance abuse problems. In fact, the liquor store was open when New Genesis moved in.

Clients aren't likely to frequent a store so close to the people assigned to supervise them, he said, noting that casinos just down the street hand out booze for free.

"I don't know if it hurts to have the devil at your doorstep," Brazelton said. "You just have to deal with it more stringently.

"When you're in a metropolitan area, you have to deal with that."

Contact reporter Alan Choate at achoate@reviewjournal.com or (702) 229-6435.