Austin City Council Approves Buying Hotel To House Homeless

AUSTIN, TX — Austin City Council on Wednesday unanimously voted to purchase a local hotel as a makeshift homeless shelter while postponing a vote to buy another one for next week.

By virtue of the council vote, the Texas Bungalows Hotel & Suites located in North Austin was approved for purchase at a cost of $9.5 million. The Council also is eyeing the Candlewood Suites in the northwest portion of the city for purchase, having allotted $6.7 million for its acquisition now scheduled for next Thursday, Feb. 4.

“By purchasing these hotels, we pull people off the streets and into housing and stability," council member Greg Casar said in a prepared statement following the vote. "It’s even more important that we approve the second of these hotels next week. These hotels will not only be homes for people, but will also provide services like job aid, health care, mental health resources, and more."

Casar noted the hotel purchases are made possible via funds reallocated from the police budget during a controversial "police defunding" of the local force last August. While such law enforcement budget cuts have come to be colloquially known as defunding, council members who voted for the move categorize them as reallocated revenue streams rather than cuts.

Following injuries of civilians at the hands of local officers last summer during protests calling for police reform, the council took swift action in reallocating funds from the agency's budget for such tasks as handling of homeless issues. Casar said hotel purchases are contingent on such police budget reallocation.

"This solution is only possible because of the transformation of Austin’s police budget," the council member said. "Although I’m disappointed that one of the two hotels was postponed today, I’m confident we can get the second one across the finish line next week. The community is calling on us to show real urgency in addressing homelessness.”

The Texas Bungalows Hotel & Suites purchase was Item #32 on the council agenda while discussion, and subsequent postponement, on buying Candlewood Suites was Item #31. The vote to postpone the latter action by one week was 7 to 4.

Funding for the initial purchase of the hotels was derived from Housing and Planning Department 2018 General Obligation Bonds, while funding for operations and services of the hotels is to be provided from Austin Public Health, using a portion of the additional $6.5M added to the FY21 budget to address homelessness during the city council’s move to "reimagine public safety," Casar said in reference to last summer's police budget cuts.