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County and City to lease former Burger King for code-blue shelter and navigation hub
Summary
The Tompkins County Legislature unanimously authorized a multi-year lease of the former Burger King site for code-blue emergency sheltering and a daytime navigation hub run in partnership with the City of Ithaca; city staff described on-site coordination with service providers.
The Tompkins County Legislature authorized a 3–5 year lease with the Maguire family limited partnership to operate a combined code-blue emergency shelter and a city-run daytime navigation hub at the former Burger King location on Route 13. The measure passed unanimously.
Dominic Recchio, deputy city manager for the City of Ithaca, described the daytime hub as a coordinated site where service providers working with city staff would help people experiencing homelessness access housing, medical care and other resources. He said the site’s proximity to the city parcel where temporary camping had been allowed is an advantage for adjacency with outreach and navigation work: "The city would operate, a daytime navigate homeless services navigation hub... the ability to seek housing medical and other resources through that space." County legislators who supported the lease said they viewed the arrangement as a long-sought collaborative effort between city and county to provide structured services and reduce encampment impacts.
The resolution authorizes the lease and the joint operating arrangement; the City and County said implementation steps, staffing and program detail will be finalized with the vendor and partner agencies ahead of the upcoming code-blue season.
