Dallas authorities are planning to turn another hotel into housing for the homeless.
Officials have issued a request for proposals to remodel the former TownHouse Suites Hotel, now a municipal property, to be used as “affordable housing” and “permanent supportive housing” (PSH) for those who are “chronically homeless” or vagrant. The property is located at 4150 Independence Dr.
The project uses bond funds and federal taxpayer money from the American Rescue Plan Act and will, according to plans, include 108 units, 20% of which have been delegated as “affordable housing.”
A contract for the project is expected to be granted sometime in April 2023, according to officials from the Office of Homeless Solutions. The city government will oversee the design and construction improvements of the facility.
Additionally, Dallas County will contribute $6.5 million from American Rescue Plan Act funds and provide input on the administration of remodeling.
The City purchased the hotel in February for $5 million using funds from a $1.05 billion bond package approved by voters in 2017, making it the fourth hotel acquired for the purpose of providing “homeless services.” This despite evidence accumulating in other cities over the past few years that ‘Housing First’ policies do not address the root cause of homelessness, and that homelessness has soared in the past few decades of ‘Housing First’ as a federal policy.
Of the bond package, $20 million is allocated to pay for homeless housing.
Another $2.8 million is slated to help buy and renovate two other hotels: 40 units at the Hotel Miramar on Fort Worth Avenue in Kessler Stevens and 50 rooms at the Candlewood Suites on Preston Road in Far North Dallas.
Additionally, the City spent $3.3 million on renovating the former Gateway Hotel on Lyndon B. Johnson Freeway in North Dallas into the 180-unit St. Jude Center Park-Central.
Unfortunately, in addition to concerns about ‘Housing First’ policies, this approach also spreads out where the truly homeless are and may take the City further away from adopting a successful single focal point of service model such as that adopted by San Antonio’s Haven for Hope program.
The need for the City to properly address what Mayor Johnson has called the “scourge of homelessness” has become more urgent as some businesses in developing areas have resorted to using private security to protect themselves from vagrants, while other businesses have been pushed out of those areas entirely.
The City of Dallas has made clear that giving money to panhandlers does not address their real needs, and in fact can harm those individuals by preventing them from getting help.
“Giving spare change without offering support could make matters worse,” the City explained, suggesting people direct their donations to City services instead.
Dallas’ less-than-fruitful efforts to shut down the multitude of homeless and vagrant encampments overtaking its public spaces have been further complicated by the intervention of self-identified anti-fascist armed activists.