The Portland City Council will consider a proposal Tuesday to lease space at an underutilized Barron Center building for a child care center at a time when such care is in short supply.

City staff came up with the idea and will present a detailed proposal at the council’s Housing and Economic Development Committee meeting, and the panel will take public comment. If the committee advances the proposal, it will go to the full council.

Assistant City Manager Dena Libner said staff came up with the idea after councilors made addressing the city’s child care shortage a priority.

“There’s a scarcity that reflects what’s going on nationally and has a very real impact on the local economy, child development and caregivers’ ability to participate in the workforce,” said Libner.

A survey of city employees found that many have trouble finding affordable child care, and the proposal calls for reserving 50% of the slots at the center for city employees, the city said in a release Friday. The rest would be reserved for Portland residents.

“As an employer we know that our recruitment and retention efforts impact our ability to consistently deliver quality services to residents, so we’re hopeful this will improve that as well,” said Libner.

The proposal also recommends that the provider accept vouchers and subsidies to make the child care more accessible and affordable. The city would also be open to leasing the space either at market rate or a reduced rate if the provider is willing to pass on the savings to its clients.

“We want the affordability to be universal and not just for city employees,” said Libner.

The center is expected to accommodate “a pretty large number” of children, according to Libner. But the exact numbers will depend on an operator’s staffing capacity and ability to cover startup costs.

The facility would be housed in a building at the Barron Center that is mostly empty aside from offices and some programming for the city’s office of elder affairs. The Barron Center is a city-owned and operated long-term care facility at 1145 Brighton Ave.

Libner said city staff have been working on the proposal for about five months. If approved, a request for proposals would go out for a child care operator to start up services in the building.

“It’s certainly not a silver bullet when it comes to the local child care scarcity but it would increase capacity. It’s not the end all be all by a long stretch,” said Libner.

Tuesday’s meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m.