From 2020 to 2022, Austin leaders faced strong public backlash over plans to purchase and convert six hotels and motels into homeless shelters and transitional housing. Opponents argued that businesses and homeowners were concerned about crime and safety, threatening legal action to stop the hotel conversion effort, while city leaders insisted that the hotels would provide more permanent supportive housing.
An American-Statesman reader recently asked about what became of those facilities. Here’s what we found out.
The city said that all hotels are currently occupied either as shelter or as housing.
The city spent nearly $54 million to turn the six lodging facilities into shelters or permanent housing.
The total occupancy for each housing or shelter option fluctuates at any given time, the city said. But here is the total capacity for each lodging facility:
The motels and hotels created 188 permanent supportive housing units:
What share of the city’s total shelter and supportive housing capacity do these facilities represent?
The Northbridge, Southbridge and SAFE Alliance shelters make up 20% of the city’s current shelter inventory while Balcones Terrace, Pecan Gardens and the Bungalows at Century Park make up 15% of the city’s total project-based permanent supportive housing units, according to the city.
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