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City officials say a plan to shelter migrants on a vacant lot in Chicago’s Morgan Park neighborhood has stalled because of a “lack of urgency” as the city turns to alternative housing options for migrants.

The decision comes less than a week after the state of Illinois rejected the city’s first attempt to house migrants in winterized basecamps on top of contaminated soil in Brighton Park. An outside environmental report deemed the site at 38th Street and California Avenue as toxic. Construction had already begun before the state pulled the plug.

Last month the City Council approved the $1 purchase of a 6.5-acre vacant lot and former Jewel-Osco grocery store at 115th and Halsted streets. The goal was to repurpose the site and build a tent camp to accommodate the influx of migrants and asylum seekers mostly from Venezuela.

Ronnie Reese, a spokesperson for Mayor Brandon Johnson, said the city has “no immediate plans” to shelter migrants on the Morgan Park site, citing a “lack of urgency.” He said there’s no urgent need to house migrants there, but didn’t give details about alternative forms of housing. Some 660 migrants are currently waiting for placement, including 461 at police stations and 199 at O’Hare International Airport.

The city is conducting environmental testing at the Morgan Park site in the 21st ward. Ald. Ronnie Mosley said he has not seen any results of an environmental report.

“They’ve already collected samples,” Mosley said. Officials say there is no timeline in place for the completion of the environmental assessment. Roux Associates, an environmental consulting and management firm, is leading the process.

According to Mosley, historical records show that the site may have at one time been home to a cleaning operation. He said that depending on how the cleaners disposed of their materials, there could be some impacts to the environment.

Mosley said the announcement of churches stepping up to housing migrants is part of the reason the Morgan Park site isn’t needed now. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s office said it would expedite a 200-bed shelter on the former site of a CVS pharmacy in Little Village. His office is also working with the city and the Archdiocese of Chicago to explore other housing options.

On Dec. 1, the city released an 800-page environmental assessment of the Brighton Park site confirming the presence of toxic metals and chemicals in the soil. Before city contractors could finish the remediation process, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency determined that the site was not fit for residential use and the state withdrew from the Brighton Park project.

Even if the city never builds a migrant encampment at Morgan Park, Mosley is still looking forward to the report.

“This is important because we are going to do residential housing on that same site for Chicagoans,” Mosley said.

The city previously dedicated 115th and Halsted site for a multi-use development called the Morgan Park Commons, which would provide 286 units of affordable housing. Mosley said the state already dedicated $15 million toward the project.

“It’s going to be a great place to live, work and play and a true catalytic project for the region,” Mosley said.

Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco covers climate change and the environment for WBEZ and Grist. Follow him on X at @__juanpab.