County commissioners consider the pros and cons of purchasing a hotel to house homeless families

Bernalillo County has been providing shelter for homeless families in a local hotel since 2022, but January marked the program’s first continuous year of operation. Some Bernalillo County commissioners would like to double down on the program by buying a hotel that would be county-owned.

Initially, the program offered six-month winter emergency shelter but in 2023, was extended to provide year-round shelter. The hotel location is undisclosed.

One side of the hotel houses the wellness program and its 22 rooms, while the other side houses the emergency shelter, which will cease operation in March. The county could expand the wellness hotel, giving the program 40 rooms, said Greg Perez, deputy county manager for public safety. When the emergency half of the program ends, costs should go down because the emergency program includes daily meals and the other program does not.

The program has reached 269 families since it began as a winter shelter program in 2022, and 80% of the families have been placed into housing or connected with loved ones who provided them with a place to live, according to Perez.

In November, the Public Safety division asked for $1.2 million to continue the program, which the commissioners agreed to.

However, Commissioner Eric Olivas wanted to know if it’s realistic for the county to purchase and open its own facility. Based on the properties available on the market, Perez recommended continuing the program as it is — a collaboration with a private hotel owner.

“There’s not a lot that’s out there,” Perez said.

Realtors who county staff have met with have said that when a property comes on the market, it leaves just as quickly — especially hotels.

“There are a lot of investors out there that are grabbing those quickly, for whatever reason,” Perez said. “I’m not sure what they’re doing with them, but they are going relatively fast.”

The county running a basic 40-room hotel would cost about $700,000 annually to operate just for housekeeping, maintenance and administration, Perez said. That doesn’t include services the county is offering, such as tutoring for kids and hot meals for emergency shelter residents.

Olivas still is interested in expanding the program and wants county staff to keep looking for locations the county could purchase.

“I want to see the county commit to this, because I think we know, unfortunately, this is a long-term problem,” Olivas said. “This is not something that’s going to go away. I know it started as an emergency shelter. We’ve since renamed it because it is an emergency, but it’s not in the sense that it’s going to pass soon.”

Commissioner Walt Benson said the program has been a success, but he would be against the county purchasing its own facility.

“We have never purchased a building where it didn’t turn into something that’s two, five times more expensive,” Benson said.