Loan goes toward homeless shelter
CITY HALL — Work will soon begin on a new homeless shelter in south Glendale after the City Council this week signed off on a $2-million loan to get the project started.
The City Council on Tuesday voted to appropriate the $2 million in seed money from the city’s General Fund for the project, allowing the nonprofit S. H. Ho Hope and Compassion Center and PATH Achieve Glendale — the city’s largest homeless services provider — to close escrow on an industrial warehouse near the southern border with Los Angeles and convert it into a larger shelter that will allow for separate sleeping quarters for men, women and children.
The so-called bridge loan will allow the project to move forward while the stakeholders await money from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which will reimburse the city, officials said.
PATH Achieve and the Hope and Compassion Center have agreed to match the city’s funding for the property at 1851 Tyburn St.
“We have all been supporters of this project from the beginning,” Councilman Frank Quintero said. “It’s certainly the right location. It’s the right building.”
PATH Achieve is planning to expand the 8,150-square-foot warehouse-style building by 2,720 square feet.
The 4,600-square-foot emergency shelter would include 40 beds for homeless clients, a kitchen, dining area, restroom facilities and storage area, according to a city report.
The proposed 6,267-square-foot access center would showcase a children’s play area, program space, a conference room, laundry room, study, restrooms, a lobby, reception area and administrative offices.
The entire project is estimated to cost $4 million.
Under the agreement, PATH Achieve will lease the access center and emergency shelter from the Hope and Compassion Center. The move would also allow PATH Achieve to reserve federal funds for operational costs.
“This is a truly 50-50 partnership between the public and private,” said Nicholas Lam, a PATH Achieve board member, at the joint meeting between the City Council, Redevelopment Agency and Housing Authority.
The board is also looking at creating a gathering space on the building’s rooftop, depending on the cost, said parks commissioner Rodney Khan, also a PATH Achieve board member.
The building may also include recycled materials and energy-saving technology, Khan said.
The new shelter is scheduled to be open by next winter.