FLAGSTAFF, AZ — A Flagstaff hotel has been purchased by a local shelter group to help those in need of emergency housing.
Flagstaff Shelter Services purchased the Howard Johnson Motel, located along Route 66 near Country Club Drive, for just over $6 million earlier this month.
The site will provide more than 72,000 square feet, including 58 rooms, to house those experiencing homelessness. They expect to serve more than 1,000 people annually.
The site will be upgraded, benefitting the visual appeal and surrounding area. It will also be renamed "The Crown" to pay homage to its history.
“Instead of paying for hotel rooms for our most immunocompromised clients, FSS can now provide its own housing option,” FSS Director Ross Schaefer said in a press release. “This vastly improves our fiscal efficiency and allows us to be even better stewards of our donors’ investments in the future of our neighbors who are experiencing homelessness.”
FSS says care coordinators will be on-site 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Agency partners like Native Americans for Community Action, North Country HealthCare, The Guidance Center, Southwest Behavioral & Health Services, and Flagstaff Family Food Center, will also have a strong presence there.
The funds to purchase the hotel were allocated through the American Rescue Plan Act, set aside to make hotel units into emergency housing, as well as the Forest Highlands Foundation and Arizona Diamondbacks Foundation.
FSS says the new site will eventually turn into permanent housing to alleviate the shortage of affordable housing.
