Baltimore strikes deal to buy 2 hotels to house homeless residents; search took nearly 3 years

Baltimore is close to finalizing the purchase of two hotels to be used as housing for the city’s homeless residents, ending a search that began nearly three years ago in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

The $15.2 million deal, which is set to be considered by the Board of Estimates next week, would give the city control of two hotels, a Holiday Inn Express and a Sleep Inn, both of which are in the area of Gay and Front streets near the mouth of Interstate 83. The city is also purchasing a parking lot between the two hotels, which are catty-cornered from the city’s juvenile justice center.

For the first nine months of operation, Mayor Brandon Scott’s administration has proposed having the seller manage the hotels, paying it an additional $3.2 million via a management agreement.

Scott said the hotel acquisitions are a “critical expansion of our ability to address the needs of our most vulnerable residents” in a news release Wednesday.

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