Mayor Eric Garcetti and 1426 Paloma Street (Credit: Twitter and Google Maps)
City officials have approved another emergency homeless shelter in Downtown Los Angeles, the area of the city where homelessness is the most acute and visible.
The new shelter in the Fashion District will include 115 beds and could open within three months, NBC reported.
The City Council approved the property lease at 1426 Paloma Street last Friday. The 14,000-square-foot property formerly housed the Children’s Museum, but has sat vacant since the museum closed in 2000.
L.A. will pay the owner of the Fashion District property $37,000 per month for three years, while the county covers on-site services.
Embattled City Council member Jose Huizar, who is under investigation by the FBI, introduced the motion last month as a part of Mayor Eric Garcetti’s “A Bridge Home” program. The $30 million housing project calls for short-term homeless housing in each Council district.
Despite opposition from local residents, two locations have already opened in Downtown’s El Pueblo and Hollywood. City officials are also planning a 100-bed shelter at the Westside VA campus, as well as other locations in Los Feliz, Venice and Koreatown. [NBCLA] — Natalie Hoberman