Baltimore strikes deal to buy 2 hotels to house homeless residents; search took nearly 3 years

Baltimore is close to finalizing the purchase of two hotels to be used as housing for the city’s homeless residents, ending a search that began nearly three years ago in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. The $15.2 million deal, which is set to be considered by the Board of Estimates next week, would give the city control of two hotels, 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.