Baltimore spending board approves $18.4M deal to buy hotels for homeless residents

Baltimore’s spending board approved an $18.4 million deal Wednesday to purchase two hotels to shelter city homeless residents as Mayor Brandon Scott’s administration pledged to continue the search for additional properties to use for housing. The purchase, which will be covered by the city’s federal American Rescue Plan Act funds, will give Baltimore control of a Holiday Inn Express and a Sleep Inn, both of which are in the area of Gay and Front streets near the mouth of Interstate 83. The city is also purchasing a parking lot between the two hotels, which are catty-cornered from the city’s juvenile justice center.