A drive to set up a transitional shelter for homeless people near the former ParkView Regional Medical Center has been scrapped — though planners say they will look for another site.

Owners of the property where the former medical complex sits on McAuley Drive and Grove Street “weren’t interested in making it available for it anymore,” said Tina Hayward, executive director of Mountain of Faith Ministries, which proposed a center in the old Sisters of Mercy convent behind the hulking former hospital where up to 24 people would spend two years learning life skills and financial planning after they’ve emerged from an emergency shelter.

The building was purchased in 2005 from River Region Health System by River Hill Investments LLC, a Brandon-based firm.

The nonprofit had sought an exception from the city to how the 16.2-acre complex is zoned. A request to take up the matter was tabled in December by the Vicksburg Board of Zoning Appeals. Another hearing before the board set for Jan. 10 was canceled when the panel didn’t reach a quorum. About three dozen residents of Wildwood subdivision behind the old hospital had planned to present formal opposition to the shelter before the zoning board.

MOFM, which operates Finders Keepers thrift store on Veto Street, was granted an exception to operate a transitional homeless facility at 1529 Walnut St. last May. The current effort was assisted by a $200,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Hayward and about 10 volunteers planned to hit the streets today as part of the federal agency’s Point in Place census of homeless in the U.S. The local count was 117 last year, according to the organization.

Hayward declined to specify where the organization will take its plans. “We have not gotten it all complete yet…but it’s very, very important.”

At public assemblies in December and earlier this month, the nonprofit said the ownership group was behind the project.

“It’s kind of a shock to us,” Hayward said.

Brandon law partners Michael Akers and William Manhein are registered agents for the company, according to the Secretary of State’s Office. When reached earlier this month, Akers said his role in the company was limited to legal counsel.

The property has gone to tax sale six times since the firm purchased the property in 2005. Tax bills have been redeemed each time.