Snohomish County purchases hotel in Everett to increase housing for the homeless

Snohomish County is purchasing the Days Inn in Everett with plans to convert the hotel into bridge housing for the unhoused population in the area.

For the past year, more than 100 vouchers have been distributed to the homeless to stay at the Days Inn, and now the city is skipping the middleman and purchasing the hotel outright.

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The purchase will be made through the Shelter & Behavioral Health Partnership Program, which is utilizing $9 million from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA.) This is an important step in providing housing and helping to move residents into permanent housing, says Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin.

“Providing shelter for those in need and significantly reducing public safety challenges related to chronic homelessness is a top priority for Everett residents. Snohomish County’s purchase of the Days Inn will provide shelter to some of the most vulnerable members of our community. This is a necessary action to making all our residents safer,” Franklin said.

The plan for the space is to turn it into bridge housing — a stepping stone between being homeless and getting permanent housing that is time-limited and coupled with wraparound service out of the Everett Mall.

Currently, Snohomish County has shelter space for 646 people, and with this purchase are adding an additional 74 units. The Shelter & Behavioral Health Partnership Program in Snohomish County also has provided an additional 26 units of housing for a total of 110 new units.

Increasing shelter and housing capacity were identified as consistent community priorities throughout the Office of Recovery & Resilience’s (ORR) pandemic recovery outreach efforts, and increasing bridge housing specifically was a top-voted issue.

“The County has taken great strides in assuring they close the widening gap caused by homelessness. I am very excited and confident that this project would be most beneficial for those who have been disproportionately affected by homelessness,” said Vivian Obah, CEO of Helping Hands Project Organization.

The county is set to vote on the purchase proposal sent over by Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers on Aug. 17 after a period of public comment. In addition, Snohomish County will conduct community outreach to ensure residents and organizations can learn more about the program, provide input on implementation, and ask questions.

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