City of Austin looking to buy more property to house homeless

AUSTIN, Texas - In November, the Austin City Council unanimously voted to purchase and renovate a hotel off of I-35 as a way to house the homeless and in today's meeting the city says it's ready to buy even more.

The city will spend about $8 million in terms of costs and renovations for the hotel in South Austin. The hotel is nearly 32,000 square feet and has 87 rooms.

The brand new item to discuss buying more property was just added to the agenda this week.

Austin Mayor Steve Adler says he's happy that the city is moving forward and working to solve the homeless issue.

Mayor Adler said during an interview on Good Day Austin that there's certain criteria the city is looking at before purchasing buildings. Those criteria include locations and physical structures that will help those homeless stabilize their lives.

Interview with Austin Mayor Steve Adler – 12/3

Mayor Adler talks about the city possibly buying more property for homeless and a court decision on short term rentals.

The next location the city is looking at has not been made public but Mayor Adler says they do have a piece of property in mind and that they're in negotiations.