The Austin City Council has decided to purchase a hotel at Burnet Road and U.S. 183 to turn into transitional housing for people experiencing homelessness.
The council unanimously voted to buy the Texas Bungalow Hotel & Suites at 13311 Burnet Road for $6.7 million. Its purchase is the latest in a strategy from the city to buy hotels to house the homeless.
A second hotel near U.S. 183 and the Texas 45 toll road on the northern outskirts of Austin was also set to be purchased. However, at the behest of Council Member Mackenzie Kelly, that vote was put off for a week.
Kelly has shown some resistance to the purchase of that hotel, the Candlewood Suites at 10811 Pecan Park Blvd. It lies in her district and its purchase marks a difficult vote for the new council member, who campaigned heavily on a platform that many of the city s policies regarding homelessness were not beneficial.
KUT
A Days Inn in Central Austin is one of four properties the city s leased to house homeless Austinites during the pandemic. On Wednesday, the Austin City Council restarted efforts to purchase hotels on a more consistent basis to house Austinites who are transitioning out of homelessness.
After hours of debate, the Austin City Council OK d the purchase of a hotel to ultimately house Austinites experiencing homelessness, while delaying the purchase of another until next week.
The two hotels – one in North Austin s District 7 and another in the more northwesterly District 6 – would collectively cost the city $16.2 million and could house at least 148 people.
The Austin Convention Center opened as a field hospital to patients for the first time Tuesday morning as area hospitals move closer to exceeding capacity due to a rise in coronavirus cases.
The site will take patients from 11 Central Texas counties who are transferred from hospitals and are determined to need lesser medical care. Patients with high-level care needs, including intensive care, will remain at hospitals.
The facility has 25 beds and can expand to more beds if needed. Staffing for the alternate care site will be handled by private doctors and medical staff.
Austin Public Health announced the opening of the site during a morning briefing with city council members. Over the weekend, the city and Travis County revealed they were working to get the convention center prepared to accept patients. The site is in collaboration with the Texas Division of Emergency Management and the Capital Area Trauma Regional Advisory Council.