Orange County might put a 600-bed homeless shelter in this industrial building in Santa Ana
Orange County is eyeing a 62,000-square-foot industrial building in an area south of Centennial Regional Park as the potential site of a 600-bed homeless shelter that would be a joint operation with the city of Santa Ana.
The county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, Nov. 20, unanimously approved pursuing a $12.25 million purchase agreement with Omega Engineering, Inc. for the building at 2229 S. Yale Street, Santa Ana.
The location, surrounded by other industrial buildings, is near the corner of Warner Avenue and Harbor Boulevard, not far from where about 200 homeless people lived along the Santa Ana River Trail in Fountain Valley until being dislodged by the county late last year.
‘Get it done’
Driven by the force of a federal civil rights lawsuit over the clearing of homeless tent encampments further north on the trail near Angel Stadium in Anaheim, county and Santa Ana officials agreed to work together in locating and operating a larger, permanent facility that would replace the 400-bed Courtyard shelter in downtown Santa Ana.
Santa Ana just last week opened a temporary 200-bed homeless shelter that is expected to operate until the larger 600-bed shelter is up and running.
Called The Link, the temporary site was converted from a vacant industrial building off Red Hill Avenue in 28 days, a feat that county supervisors mentioned in their remarks on the purchase of the Yale Street building.
“Jump on this thing and get it done,” Supervisor Shawn Nelson said in urging quick but diligent action to put the Yale Street property to use.
Not just a shelter
In the purchase agreement the board approved on Tuesday, the building is not specifically earmarked for a homeless shelter. Documents only state that the acquisition is being considered “To provide a facility for community services within central Orange County.”
County spokeswoman Molly Nichelson said after the board meeting that staff will be assessing the feasibility of the structure and what it can be used for.
She said those inspections will likely take until the end of the year, and the purchase could be completed in early 2019.
“It could be used as a shelter, but we have storage needs at the county as well,” Nichelson said.
Board Chairman Andrew Do, whose First District encompasses the Yale Street site, said the county could learn from the example of Santa Ana city staff in the collaborative approach they took among themselves and with service provider Mercy House to open The Link shelter.
But he also cautioned that a permanent shelter site would have different criteria from a temporary site.
Still, Do said, “We know what can be done.”