Dallas City Council voted unanimously on Wednesday to convert a long-closed hospital into an affordable housing center for the homeless.
The city will buy the former University General Hospital at 2929 S. Hampton Road, vacant since 2014, for $6.5 million. It’s adjacent to single-family homes, a senior living apartment complex, an elementary school and Kiest Park.
“The day has come for us to stop being afraid of our own shadow,” said Casey Thomas, who heads the council’s homelessness and housing committee and represents the area. “If it wasn’t for the grace of God, we would be in the same situation.”
Houston-based University General Health System bought the 111-bed hospital in 2012 for $30 million. The company filed for bankruptcy a few months after shutting it down, and an attempt to sell it failed, according to Dallas Morning News. The company said in its bankruptcy filings that the hospital was incurring more than $1 million a month of operating losses.
Dallas voters voted in 2017 to use $20 million for transitional and permanent housing and related services for the chronic homeless. The money was previously used to convert the Miramar Hotel to a center for temporary housing and assistance.
Before the vote, council members said the hospital conversion wouldn’t produce a homeless shelter. Instead, they described it as a resource center with potential to reduce crime, create jobs and bring in retailers such as Sprouts, a more affordable version of Whole Foods. The proposal includes using the building’s medical facilities to service the local community.
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