Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto said city and county officials are in talks to build a homeless shelter in downtown Pittsburgh.

He said a likely site would be near the Allegheny County Jail on Second Avenue, where the city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority and the county both own property.

“We are looking at city property … that we may be able to give to the county health department and they’ll work with Mercy Behavioral Health,” he said.

Peduto said it’s important to put homeless services and resources in urban rather than suburban areas, so that people can walk to other amenities

“You have to build a shelter where a person can walk to get food, where a person can walk to be able to wash their clothes, where a person can walk to get medical attention,” he said.

Peduto said he’d like the proposed shelter to house at least 70 people and be open year-round.