City officials to shutter 3 migrant shelters as need for beds lessens

The city will close three migrant shelters next month as the need for beds declines, officials say.

The Halsted, Ogden and Lakeshore Hotel shelters currently house 1,200 residents, city officials said Tuesday. All residents will be moved to other temporary shelters.

The Halsted shelter, 2241 S. Halsted St., and the Ogden shelter, 344 N. Ogden Ave., are slated to close Oct. 1, and the Lakeshore Hotel shelter, 4900 S. DuSable Lake Shore Dr., is scheduled to shut down Oct. 24.

Closing the shelters — which opened last year — will eliminate 3,030 beds.

The city, which currently has about 5,000 unused beds in migrant shelters, says it will "re-evaluate the beds needed for the remainder of the year."

Veronica Castro, deputy director at the Illinois Coalition for Immigrants and Refugee Rights, said there is still a need for a permanent solution for migrant housing.

“We knew from the onset temporary shelters were insufficient and were never meant to be a long-term solution," Castro said. "The consolidation of shelters does not mean the need no longer exists. Many new arrivals and long-term Chicagoans alike continue to struggle with housing insecurity. This is an opportunity for the city and state to invest more deeply in community stakeholders’ demands for permanent solutions to make dignified, long-term housing accessible for those who need it.”

Fourteen shelters will remain open, officials said.

"The shelter system has evolved since its inception Aug. 31, 2022," said Brian Berg, spokesman at the Department of Family and Support Services. "At one time there were approximately 26 shelters."

Prior to the Democratic National Convention, city officials anticipated a surge in new arrivals based on comments made by the governor of Texas. However, the surge never happened.

During the convention, portable toilets, police barriers and CTA buses remained on standby at the bus landing zone at 800 S. Desplaines St. for migrants who never arrived.

City officials said Texas does not provide advance notice about the buses.