The bleachers of the Kleberg-Rylie rec-center gym erupted in cheers Wednesday evening after the City Council approved zoning the Salvation Army needs to build a $95 million, 20-acre campus in Northwest Dallas.

And the moment all the council members said aye at the off-site meeting in the gym, hundreds of Salvation Army supporters — most dressed in red, almost all sporting stickers bearing the nonprofit's iconic red shield — whooped and hollered as though their team had just sunk a winning buzzer-beater.

And maybe they had. Because in the months leading up to Wednesday's vote, it was unclear whether the campus would get the council's approval — in large part because some surrounding property owners were concerned about an increase in crime and a downturn in property values.

But in the end, the vote became "a celebration rather than a contentious debate," said downtown council member Philip Kingston.

The new facility, which will be planted on land donated by Omni Hotels owner Robert Rowling, will include 150 beds for emergency sheltering for men, women and families; 150 beds for its substance-abuse-treatment program; and 250 transitional housing units for individuals, and 20 units for families. The Salvation Army will also offer 100 units of permanent supportive housing.

The campus will replace the Salvation Army's aging, cramped Carr P. Collins Social Service Center on Harry Hines Boulevard in the Medical District.

The vote Wednesday was all but a done deal after the Salvation Army and neighboring property owners reached an accord in recent days that guarantees, among other things, the nonprofit will not allow registered sex offenders or serve people not already in registered programs on the campus.

According to deed restrictions hashed out in recent days, the Salvation Army will also provide 24-hour-a-day security in and around the campus, including 500 feet beyond the perimeter fence. An off-duty Dallas police officer will drive a marked squad car for eight hours every day.

Council member Omar Narvaez, who represents the industrial neighborhood where the campus will go, helped mediate the negotiations between the Salvation Army and surrounding property owners.

"This is not just a win for the city of Dallas," Narvaez said. "It's not just a win for the Salvation Army. It's also not just a win for the property owners. It's a win for our homeless population."

Dallas City Council member Omar Narvaez dons a Salvation Army sticker as he speaks in favor of the organization's proposed 20-acre campus along an industrial corridor of Stemmons Freeway. (Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer)

Narvaez said he sees the campus and zoning deal as "the model" for future agreements about homelessness services centers.

"We've got to get this right, because one of your districts is next," Narvaez told his council colleagues.

Both sides of the deal could also benefit in another way: the council in a separate vote approved the creation of a Neighborhood Empowerment Zone, which will offer tax breaks and incentives to property and business owners who improve their land or hire new employees. That will include people from the Salvation Army campus.

A supporter of the Salvation Army's proposed 20-acre campus along an industrial corridor of Stemmons Freeway handed out stickers before Wednesday's meeting. (Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer)

Narvaez had maintained that the empowerment zone was unrelated to the Salvation Army's zoning request. Other council members were skeptical about the items' overlap, but nonetheless supported the move.

The Salvation Army, which has many prominent supporters, had already won over the mayor and some council members who saw an opportunity to better deal with homelessness in the city and spread around services, which are concentrated downtown.

Mayor Mike Rawlings told the Salvation Army that the campus would "make a difference in a lot of people's lives." To audience members, most of whom had never attended a council meeting, the mayor said, "We never have this good a time."

Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot said he and the Salvation Army's Blake Fetterman have discussed bringing homeless people charged with misdemeanor criminal trespass to the campus rather than to the jail. Creuzot said he will use $100,000 in discretionary funds from his office to help fund the campus.

"We have to solve these problems," Creuzot told the council before the vote. "Jailing the mentally ill or homeless is morally wrong and unacceptable."

Philanthropist Margot Perot — wife of billionaire business magnate H. Ross Perot — told the council, "This project is exactly what we need."