Baltimore finalizes $18M deal to acquire hotels for long-term homeless housing

Baltimore leaders approved an $18.4 million deal Wednesday to buy two downtown hotels to serve as emergency shelter for homeless residents, sites they intend to eventually convert into long-term housing.

The agreement to buy the two sites, first publicized last week and promised nearly three years ago, adds dozens of replacement beds to the city’s capacity for the time being.

Leaders on the Board of Estimates approved the deal Wednesday in a 4-1 vote. Council President Nick Mosby, who has uniformly opposed plans to spend the city’s $641 million pandemic aid, voted against the acquisitions. The total cost includes $15.2 million to buy the two hotels and the parking lot between them, as well as $3.2 million for nine months of maintenance and operations, also approved Wednesday.

The city had set aside more than $40 million in federal pandemic aid to acquire shelter space, including the hotels, part of a $90 million pledge in American Rescue Plan Act and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development funds for homeless services — the largest such investment in Baltimore’s history, according to the city.

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