Mayor Brandon Scott’s administration has landed a deal to purchase two hotels to convert into shelter space for Baltimore residents experiencing homelessness, nearly three years after first making the pledge.

The agreement to buy the two sites, made public Wednesday, adds dozens of replacement beds to the city’s capacity. Both properties — the Sleep Inn & Suites Downtown Inner Harbor and the Holiday Inn Express Baltimore-Downtown — are adjacent and just a few blocks away from City Hall. There are 62 rooms in the Sleep Inn & Suites, according to Visit Baltimore, while the Holiday Inn has 90 total beds in 68 rooms. Sleep Inn & Suites is owned by Choice Hotels, whose chairman, Stewart Bainum, is founder and chairman of The Baltimore Banner.

The new beds will not completely eradicate the need for more shelter space in Baltimore, and the number of beds secured through the deal are fewer than what the city initially had targeted. In an April 2021 news release, Scott’s office said it wanted to explore acquiring properties with “100-200″ bedrooms and had sought to transition about 600 people living in leased motels and hotels to more “sustainable, long-term” sites.

The story continues at The Baltimore Banner: Scott administration delivers long-promised deal to buy hotels for shelters

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