Austin Council Mulls $16.2M Hotels Purchase To House Homeless

AUSTIN, TX — Austin City Council members on Wednesday will discuss the option of buying two hotels at a cost of some $16.2 million to house people experiencing homelessness, according to a municipal advisory.

Normally, the city’s goal is 100 permanent supportive housing units per year, officials noted. In the first month of 2021, the mulled council action will bring forward nearly 150 permanent supportive housing units after a single council meeting, officials added.

“This is how we pull hundreds of people off the streets and into housing,” District 4 Austin City Council Member Greg Casar said in a prepared statement. “We reinvested dollars from the police department into solutions like this, so that we can have fewer people living under bridges and in creeks. Only homes can solve homelessness.”

The hotel purchases are Items #31 & 32 of the upcoming council agenda, authorizing the purchase of Candlewood Suites for $9.5 million and Texas Bungalows Hotel & Suites for $6.7 million. The funding for the initial purchase of the hotels is derived from Housing and Planning Department 2018 General Obligation Bonds, while funding for operations and services of the hotels is expected to be provided from Austin Public Health, using the additional $6.5M added to the FY21 budget to address homelessness during the city council’s move to reimagine public safety, officials said.