This Fort Worth hotel will be converted into apartments for the COVID-vulnerable
A HomeTowne Studios extended-stay hotel off North Beach Street and Loop 820 is likely to be the future home for Fort Worth residents facing homelessness who are at particularly high risk of COVID-19.
Fort Worth Housing Solutions, the city’s housing authority, will purchase the hotel at 3804 Tanacross Drive with the hope of redeveloping it into permanent supportive housing by December. That’s the deadline to spend nearly $10 million in federal CARES Act dollars the city allocated for supportive housing. The housing authority expects to serve 119 people who are homeless and at a greater risk of coronavirus because of their age or underling health risks.
Unlike a typical shelter, permanent supportive housing provides long-term housing for those who need additional care, such as medical treatment, counseling or rehab. The city has committed to spending $350,000 to help support these services.
The City Council must approve necessary zoning on Sept. 15.
City staff had pitched the council on spending nearly $20 million to buy at least two hotels to serve closer to 200 people, but the council balked at the size of the expense and the quick deadline. The money must be spent by the end of the year or the city risks losing it. Instead, the council decided to spend $9.25 million while holding back the other half possibly to assist small businesses.
The housing complex will be staffed with five on-site providers, according to a city report: three general case managers from Presbyterian Night Shelter, one mental health case worker from My Health, My Resources and a JPS worker to connect people with health care resources.
The HomeTowne Studios’ location meets several city criteria for a permanent supportive housing project.
Trinity Metro’s Route 16, which connects Mercantile Center to Alliance Town Center, stops immediately outside the hotel. Grocery stores are within two miles of the site and along the bus line, along with multiple pharmacies. There are few single-family homes in the area, but a large amount of retail.
Most future residents will not have a car, so it’s important residents feel connected to shopping, jobs and and hospitals, said Tara Perez, manager of Directions Home, the city’s homelessness program.
“We don’t want people to feel isolated,” she said.
The units will be open to those who are chronically homeless, meaning they have faced homelessness for a year or more and also have an underling condition. They must also be particularly vulnerable to coronavirus, either because they are over 65 or their health condition puts them at greater risk.
Fort Worth Housing Solutions is expected to spend about $7 million for the hotel. Another $1.5 million will likely be needed to make rooms accessible and repair the HVAC system, according the the city. It has 121 small rooms, all with kitchenettes, ranging from 220 to 292 square feet.
The housing authority is working with Ojala Holdings, a Dallas-based real estate firm, which did not return a call for comment. Bennett Benner Partners is the architect.
In response to a request to interview someone at the housing authority about the plan for hotel, a spokesperson provided a statement saying Fort Worth Housing Solutions is “pleased to have found a property than can be updated for this purpose, and we are fortunate to live in a place where city leaders and nonprofit agencies are partnering to help make it possible by the end of the year.”
This story was originally published August 31, 2020 at 4:41 PM.
