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ST. LOUIS — More than a dozen tents occupied by the homeless remained at a downtown plaza late Tuesday after an effort began earlier in the week to relocate the encampment to a warehouse a few blocks away.

The effort to move the encampment from Interco Plaza to the warehouse began Monday but it wasn’t clear then who organized the relocation and coordinated the use of private security guards to move people from a public plaza. The plaza is largely owned by the city, but a small portion at the northeast corner is owned by the StarWood Group, which is a development company related to payment processing giant Square.

John Berglund, a managing partner with StarWood, said the company entered into a memorandum of understanding with the city in February 2020 to pay for trash pickup, landscaping, cleaning and maintenance at the plaza, at the intersection of Tucker Boulevard and Martin Luther King Drive. That contract was finalized prior to the encampment taking root at the plaza.

"In its current state with more than 30 tents, trash, needles, and with excessive threats and harassments to our cleaning crew, we are not able to hold up our end of the deal," Berglund said in a statement.

The warehouse at the intersection of Cole and 14th streets where many of the homeless moved is owned by StarWood, but Berglund said the company did not coordinate the relocation effort, explaining that was left to the St. Patrick Center and the city. The St. Patrick Center is based next door to the plaza and provides an array of services to the homeless. The renovated offices of Square are at the other end of the plaza.

"We recognize this is a complicated and difficult issue," Berglund said. He added in his statement that StarWood offered the warehouse as a temporary solution until the city can establish sites for permanent encampments.

Mayor Tishaura O. Jones has made addressing homelessness a key part of her administration, focusing on the idea of �intentional encampments� where homeless people can camp in a safe space that also has workers providing services to help them get into long-term housing.

A spokesman for the mayor said the city had not identified any sites for those encampments, but the mayor has said part of her proposal for using COVID-19 relief money is to direct a portion toward helping the homeless.

Jones’ office promised last month to clean up the plaza encampment within 60 days, but earlier this week security guards placed signs in the area notifying people, “The encampment at Interco Plaza will be closed beginning on August 2nd at 5 p.m. Thanks.�

The relocation of the camp drew criticism from those living there and from Jones, who characterized the effort as a “private sweep of public property.�

KB Doman, who works with the nonprofit Tent Mission STL, said she was worried about people being forcibly displaced.

“Private corporations steamrolling everyone to force them out of public land is never OK,� she said.

But Berglund denied that StarWood forced anyone from the area.

“At no point did we direct — or have any intention of directing — the relocation efforts,� Berglund said. 

Amanda Laumeyer, senior director of development at St. Patrick, said Monday that the encampment "came up on its own, and what it’s become is not what we want to provide."

“There’s no services, it’s not dignified, not clean," she said. "It’s not safe. At 3 a.m. anyone can walk up to a tent and open it.�

Laumeyer was concerned for the safety of St. Patrick staff and others in the building due to the proximity to the plaza, she said. Some homeless people carry sticks, poles or bats in order to defend themselves.

Fanita Dixon, who had lived at the encampment for nearly a month, said she returned to the plaza Tuesday morning after moving her belongings to the warehouse, dubbed Camp Cole.

She said she was glad for the warehouse space, saying she spent the night on a couch instead of in her tent and was able to get to sleep at a decent hour because the more rowdy residents had stayed outside or moved on.

“I think it’s great (they’re shutting this down),� she said. “If I was opening a business here, I think I’d do the same thing.�