The former industrial building at 2241 S. Halsted St. that was converted into the city’s largest shelter. (WTTW News)

Officials announced Tuesday they will move 1,200 migrants out of three shelters across Chicago as the crisis that has sent nearly 48,000 men, women and children to the city from the southern border enters a new phase.

Shelters in Pilsen and in the West Loop will close Oct. 1 and a shelter in Hyde Park will close Oct. 24. All of the residents will be offered space in one of the 14 shelters the city will continue to operate, officials said.

In all, the closures of the shelters at 2241 S. Halsted Ave., 344 N. Ogden Ave. and 4900 S. Lake Shore Drive will reduce the city’s migrant shelter capacity by more than 3,000 beds.

After the three shelters close, the city will have approximately 2,000 additional beds, officials said. That will ensure that the city could handle an unanticipated surge in the final eight weeks before the presidential election, officials said.

City, state and county officials “plan to re-evaluate the beds needed for the remainder of the year,” city officials said in a statement.

Officials said they “remain committed to fiscal responsibility.” It is unclear how much money the city will save by closing the shelters. Officials imposed a hiring freeze and new limits as they grapple with a $223 million budget deficit this year, and a projected gap of $982 million in 2025.

It cost $184.8 million to care for the migrants who made their way to Chicago between Jan. 1 and June 30 of this year, according to city data.

In June, city officials spent $677,310 every day to care for 5,500 migrants in 15 shelters. That is down significantly since December, when city officials spent $1.4 million per day to care for nearly 15,000 people in 27 shelters.

Approximately 500 people who are members of families will be relocated from what was once the city’s largest migrant shelter, Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th Ward) said. They will be moved to “better conditions” in other parts of the city, Sigcho-Lopez said.

The closure of the shelter on Halsted represents the end of an era, Sigcho-Lopez said. That shelter, in a vacant industrial building, was the city’s largest, housing more than 2,500 people in January, at what appears to be the peak of the crisis.

A 5-year-old boy, Jean Carlos Martinez Rivero, who had been living with his family at the Pilsen shelter, died Dec. 17 after living at the shelter for several weeks with his family. His death was caused by sepsis and other viruses, including COVID-19, adenovirus and rhinovirus/enterovirus, according to an autopsy.

The shelter was also the site of a major measles outbreak, with city health officials documenting 64 cases of the highly infectious disease between the beginning of March and the end of April, most tied to the Pilsen shelter.

Sigcho-Lopez said he was proud of the response by the Pilsen community to assist the city’s newest residents. Most arrived on buses to Chicago paid for by Texas Gov. Greg after they crossed the southern border, requested asylum and received permission to remain in the U.S. while their cases are resolved.

“The community came together and responded to a humanitarian crisis,” Sigcho-Lopez said. “We saved lives.”

More than 300 women and children will move from the shelter at 344 N. Ogden Ave. by Oct. 1, while an additional 370 people will move from the shelter at the Lakeshore Hotel at 4900 S. Lake Shore Drive, officials said.

Ald. Walter Burnett, whose 27th Ward includes the shelter on Ogden, said its closure was “great.”

“I hope we can close all of them soon,” said Burnett, who acknowledged the crisis has been volatile.

Ald. Desmon Yancy, whose 5th Ward includes the Lakeshore Hotel, did not respond to a request for comment from WTTW News.

City officials had been prepared for as many as 10,000 migrants to make their way to Chicago before the convention, as Abbott continued to vow to make good on his threats to cause as much chaos around the Democratic National Convention as possible in an attempt to boost former President Donald Trump’s chances of reelection.

That surge never materialized.

There are fewer than 5,500 people living in 17 facilities as of Tuesday, a 2% drop in the past month, according to city data.

In all, 47,772 migrants have made their way to Chicago, an increase of 3.3% in the past month, according to city data.

A new policy implemented by President Joe Biden appears to have reduced the number of migrants crossing the border without permission. That number dropped 32% in July as compared with the previous month and were the lowest monthly total along the southwest border since September 2020.

No changes to the city’s policies governing migrants were announced along with the closures of the three shelters, and Mayor Brandon Johnson’s 60-day limit on shelter stays for most migrants remains in effect.

Approximately 69% of the more than 1,900 migrants evicted from city shelters since March had nowhere else to go, and continue to live in city facilities, according to city data.

All migrants evicted from a city shelter can return to the designated “landing zone” for buses from Texas at Polk and Desplaines streets in the West Loop and reapply for shelter.

More than 300 people who belong to families with school-age children have been forced to leave a city shelter since the beginning of June, when city officials began enforcing the eviction policy after the end of the school year. Most immediately returned to a city facility.

Evictions of families with children have resumed after being suspended for the first two weeks after the school year began Aug. 26, Chicago officials said.

Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]