Closure of Navigation Center in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District postponed
by Jeremy Harris, KOMO News
Tue, January 7th 2025 at 6:54 PM
SEATTLE — The closure of a homeless service center in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District (CID) has been postponed by two months.
The “Navigation Center,” a low-barrier facility with drug and mental health treatment operated by the Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC), was slated for closure before the end of January, but will now remain open through March, DESC officials confirmed to KOMO News.
The city of Seattle announced last year the lease for the Navigation Center would not be renewed after prolonged public safety issues around the facility, including rampant drug use, shootings and fires.
The DESC said the services at the Navigation Center will move to a new facility, known as the Stability Through Access and Resources (STAR) Center, that will occupy a currently-vacant building at the corner of Third Ave and Cherry Street, one block west of Seattle City Hall.
“The STAR Center needs to be open so that the remaining Navigation Center guests have a place to move to,” DESC spokesperson Jessica Schreindl told KOMO News in an email. “The work to open the STAR Center is underway but won’t be completed until the end of March … we are in the process of moving Navigation Center clients into permanent housing. Clients who have not yet acquired housing will move to the STAR Center.”
The postponed timeline is frustrating for advocates of the CID neighborhood, who point the finger at the Navigation Center for many of the area’s issues.
“It attracts people all day and evenings – selling drugs, buying drugs, selling stolen goods,” said Gary Lee, the co-chair of the public safety council for the CID. “They go in (the Navigation Center) to get high, come back out with drugs, go back in. Basically, it’s a supervised drug den.”
The city of Seattle has been trying to get a handle on the drug issues in the CID through a new “Stay Out of Drug Area” law passed by the city council last year. Recent operations by Seattle police have disrupted drug dealing around the Navigation Center and city crews are cleaning the block with soap and water on a regular basis.
“The city has definitely been making an effort,” Lee said. “And it is a gigantically huge job – a difficult job, especially with lack of police force.”
Seattle City Councilmember Bob Kettle, who represents downtown, said he’s confident the STAR Center will bring an improvement to how addiction treatment and mental health resources are delivered to homeless people in Seattle.
”Because at the end of the day, we have to have these human services piece to complement what we’re doing on the public safety side,” Kettle told KOMO News.
Kettle said the STAR Center will have a “good-neighbor agreement” that includes a plan for lighting, security, and safety.
“We have a lot of lessons learned, not just from the Navigation Center but generally from the service providers,” Kettle said. The STAR Center will have 24/7 security with a minimum of three staff members on duty at all times.
“Security monitoring will involve the use of security cameras and regular perimeter patrols, with a prompt response to any issues that arise. The center’s secure, non-congregate shelter model will ensure that each person receives the care and attention they need in a safe and supportive environment,” DESC says on the STAR center’s website.
The STAR Center will take referrals from homeless outreach teams in the city, including the CARE Team which was recently expanded.
DESC also plans to open an opioid recovery center and enhanced behavioral health center in their facilities on Third Avenue.
“Without public health success, we cannot have success on public safety,” Kettle said.