Suit aims to squelch the possibility of Austin building homeless shelter near the airport
Austin (KXAN) — A group of property owners are suing the city of Austin to dash the possibility of the city purchasing a motel to use as a homeless shelter at a business park near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
In response, a spokesperson for the City of Austin told KXAN, “The City is familiar with the allegations raised by the owners of the MetCenter and are prepared to defend the City and its officials.”
The lawsuit was filed on December 18 in Travis County District Court by the Met Center Property Owner’s Association.
The city has pivoted this fall to a strategy of buying out motels to turn into homeless shelters. City dollars will fund the purchase of these motels, but Austin’s Ending Community Homelessness Coalition plans to raise the funds to operate these shelters and ultimately turn them into permanent supportive housing.
On November 14, the council approved the purchase of the first of these hotels, the Rodeway Inn off of Interstate 35 near Oltorf Road. The city would spend $8 million in total for the Rodeway Inn property which includes $6.4 million for the building itself plus additional funds for services to prepare the building.
The next property which was discussed as an option was the Microtel Inn and Suites near the southwest intersection of State Highway 71 and U.S. Highway 183.
While the city was initially scheduled to vote to approve the acquisition of this property in December, the council ultimately decided to put the discussion about this motel on hold.
At that time, Austin Mayor Steve Adler expressed optimism that the council could pick the conversation back up about purchasing this property in January after city staff has more time to look at the issue.
Matt Mollica, the executive director of Austin’s Ending Community Homelessness Coalition (ECHO), also told KXAN at the time that ECHO would be focusing on trying to find another motel that could be converted into a shelter.
Regarding the Microtel, Mollica also said, “it’s still a building that works really well for us, and if the city can figure out a way to fund the operation outside of converting it to permanent supportive housing, that seems like it’s on the table still.”
The lawsuit
According to the suit, Microtel is located within the Metro Center Business Park. The park is billed as “a master-planned business park” covering more than 500 acres near ABIA. The suit also refers to the park as, “home to the highest concentration of Fortune 500 companies, state, and federal office operations and data center facilities in Central Texas.”
The lawsuit said that if the city acquired the Microtel property to use as a shelter or as permanent multifamily housing, the city would be overstepping its authority and the zoning rules in the area. Because the property is near the airport, it is subject to the “airport overlay zone” which limits residential use.
Additionally, the lawsuit seeks to bar the city from changing zoning rules that would allow the Microtel property to serve as a homeless shelter or any type of temporary or permanent supportive housing.
The lawsuit said when the city first expressed interest in Microtel, representatives from the Met Center reached out to City Council and the city’s legal department to point out the restrictions in the area.
Council has not yet taken action on the Microtel.
A new strategy
While the city has expressed interest in both the Microtel and the Rodeway in, the city clarified that they are only under contract for one of those: the Rodeway Inn.
The council has already authorized the city’s negotiation and execution to purchase the Rodeway Inn. The city is performing its due diligence, with that contract which is a 90-day period prior to closing. The city has told KXAN previously that once they officially close on the Rodeway Inn, the process of moving people experiencing homelessness into the building can begin.
The city told KXAN Monday their efforts with the Microtel have “been put on pause due to potential zoning questions. “