Police and other city workers cleared half a dozen homeless residents out of an abandoned building in East Long Beach on Thursday so that it could be demolished to make way for an affordable housing project.

The building, on the cul-de-sac of Fountain Street near Bryant Elementary School, has had people living in or trespassing at it for years, according to city officials.

Now the structure will be knocked down for construction of over 70 apartments for low-income families and people with disabilities.

Six people were moved out of the building by a city team that included Health Department and Public Works crews along with SWAT and other police officers, according to Chelsey Magallon, a city spokesperson.

A rendering of the proposed affordable housing project that Linc Housing hopes to build in the Bryant neighborhood in East Long Beach. Photo courtesy of Linc Housing.

Police did not arrest anyone, Magallon said, but they did issue three citations for trespassing.

Because of complaints about trespassing and nuisance issues with the building, Long Beach officials said they moved to demolish it quickly, even loaning the developer, Linc Housing, money to speed up the process.

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The building used to be a home for troubled youth, and since Long Beach purchased the property in 2017, “All efforts to secure the building have been costly and temporary,” Kjell Stava, a real estate project coordinator for the city, said at a meeting discussing the project in February.

That’s left unhoused people at the building living in dangerous conditions, according to Stava, who said the building is plagued by black mold, asbestos and biological waste.

City officials showed this picture of conditions inside the building at 4151 E. Fountain St. during a city meeting in February.

Magallon said the city has visited the building in the past to do “extensive outreach” and offered housing to a total of 39 people. At least some people, however, apparently remained.

Emergency housing opportunities are typically at or near capacity in Long Beach, and some residents and workers have raised concerns about conditions at city facilities.

Magallon said the six people moved out of the abandoned building Thursday were connected to shelters.

Demolition at the site will now begin as quickly as possible.

When it’s done, construction could start early next year with completion expected in late 2026, Magallon said.

Jeremiah Dobruck is executive editor of the Long Beach Post where he oversees all day-to-day newsroom operations. In his time working as a journalist in Long Beach, he’s won numerous awards for his investigative reporting and editing. Before coming to the Post in 2018, he wrote for publications including the Press-Telegram, Orange County Register and Los Angeles Times. Reach him at [email protected] or @jeremiahdobruck on Twitter.