The big picture
The 70,000-square-foot Marshalling Yard was originally built as a warehouse and staging ground for the Austin Convention Center. It opened for that purpose in 2022 on the east side off US 183 and Hwy. 71.
When city leaders pushed to expand homeless shelter capacity around Austin in 2023, they tapped the Marshalling Yard to serve as a congregate shelter for up to 300 clients at an initial cost of more than $9 million. Since then, the city has spent millions of dollars more to maintain the space.
Officials have always billed the Marshalling Yard as a temporary solution while other permanent shelter sites are identified. The facility's closure was initially planned for earlier this year, but City Council reversed course in late 2024 and extended operations through this summer. Its capacity was recently reduced by about 18 beds to make space for the convention center's needs at the facility.
Looking ahead, $8 million for the Marshalling Yard was included in Austin's budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2025-26 as an ongoing expense. Still, homeless strategy officials recently told council members that other options are still being considered for the future.
“We’re aware Marshalling Yard is not a permanent shelter, and so we continue looking for alternative shelters," Greg McCormack, program manager for Austin's Homeless Strategy Office, said Aug. 6. "The money that has been identified for services for Marshalling Yard should we find—when we find—another shelter to replace those beds would follow those services. ... We’re always looking at different options."
The results
Through its first year as a shelter under nonprofit operator Endeavors, the Marshalling Yard served almost 1,000 individual clients. Of 662 who left the facility from August 2023 through July 2024, 116 people—less than 18%—represented a "positive exit," or move into housing, according to the city.
During the same period from 2024 to 2025, fewer clients moved through while the facility saw improved outcomes. More than 800 people were served from August 2024 through July 2025, and 164 of the 551 who left found housing—a nearly 30% positive exit rate.
“When we were envisioning and setting up the Marshalling Yard, it was our first foray into real, true congregate shelter: large warehouse space with beds. And I really was not sure how it would be received in the community and in the homeless community," he said. "What we have found with our partnership with Endeavors is that people do want to go in there, and a lot of folks are getting housed out of there, and a lot of good things are happening. And so it is a model that is just one piece of the model that we need within our shelter system, but I think it’s a very important one.”
The facility's exit results over the last year were roughly in line with some other city-owned shelters, and well above the Northbridge and Southbridge facilities tied to Austin's encampment clearing program. Those two shelters recorded better outcomes from 2023 to 2024, a change the Homeless Strategy Office attributed to the expiration of federal dollars that had supported housing programs.
What's next
Renewed and expanded funding was outlined in a homelessness investment plan compiled at council's request this year. City officials then added much of that blueprint into Austin's FY 2025-26 budget, backed by a tax hike subject to voter approval this fall.
"[The Homeless Strategy Office] is prioritizing a more universal approach to case management, diversion, and rapid exit in the coming fiscal year, should funding materialize for these programs as identified in the HSO budget proposal. Additionally, the HSO team continues to meet twice per week with its shelter operators, as well as quarterly with those it does not, to share resources, review system data, and build upon best practices in the community," an office spokesperson said in a statement.
Council members in August also questioned where the city will find the hundreds of shelter beds needed to replace the Marshalling Yard when it eventually closes. McCormick said city staff are considering the construction of a larger shelter with up to 1,000 beds, modeled after The Bridge in Dallas or San Antonio's Haven for Hope and potentially funded through the city's 2026 bond package.
Mayor Pro Tem Vanessa Fuentes expressed interest in visiting those other cities before moving forward with a project of that size in Austin.
“Just putting that many individuals who need specialized services and care [together], for me just sounds a little concerning," she said. "We have even just struggled to provide adequate service at the Marshalling Yard, and that has less than 300—although I’m very pleased to see the additional case managers and peer support specialists, I’m glad our ratio is slowly getting better."
McCormick also said nonprofit The Other Ones Foundation's expansion of its nearby Esperanza Community off US 183 could offer another avenue for more clients to exit in the near future. TOOF's 100-bed addition is set to open soon, while more than 400 are proposed in a future phase of development.
