Anaheim buys building near Bridges at Kraemer Place for $3.95 million for temporary homeless shelter

ANAHEIM — A building near the Bridges at Kraemer Place shelter by the 91 Freeway and Glassell Street in Anaheim will become a temporary homeless shelter for up to three years, after which a permanent emergency shelter is expected to be operating.

The City Council agreed Monday, Dec. 3, to purchase the Piano Empire Megastore building on East La Mesa Street for $3.95 million. The site was a last-minute shift from earlier plans to buy a building on La Palma Avenue that some nearby business owners had opposed.

The shelter, with up to 125 beds, will be run by the nonprofit Illumination Foundation and will offer case management, job and housing help and other services. Clients will be permitted to keep pets with them and can remain in the shelter during the day, unlike some shelters that close in the morning and reopen later in the day.

Following the example set by Santa Ana, which remodeled and opened a shelter in 28 days, Anaheim officials hope to have the new shelter open within two months, shortly after a second such facility made up of modular buildings launches on Lewis Street run by the Salvation Army.

The new shelters help the city meet the conditions of the settlement of a lawsuit filed by several homeless people, who argued that the county’s shortage of shelter beds meant they had nowhere to go when the Santa Ana River Trail encampment was cleared early this year.

On Tuesday, Anaheim city leaders also acknowledged the need to create permanent housing that offers assistance for mental health, substance abuse and other issues.

If emergency shelters are the only option and there’s no place for those who need long-term help, Councilman Jose Moreno said, “A lot of this work just goes for naught.”