Baltimore’s spending board approved the $13.3 million purchase of a downtown hotel to house the city’s homeless population Wednesday, the third such hotel the city has bought in the last two years.

The hotel, formerly the Fairfield Inn & Suites on South President Street, has been used as a women’s shelter since 2020, one of several hotels the city began using for housing during the pandemic.

The deal, which was approved without discussion by the city’s Board of Estimates, calls for Baltimore to use roughly $8 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds as well as $5.2 million in capital funds for the purchase. The hotel, formerly a part of the Marriott chain, is owned by MHF Baltimore DT V LLC.

The board’s agenda states the hotel can house 145 women daily.

The loss of the Fairfield Inn would further decrease the city’s emergency shelter beds resulting in “more residents experiencing unsheltered homelessness,” the agenda states.

The hotel is the third the city has purchased in an effort to move away from more traditional congregate shelters. In February 2024, the spending board approved an $18.4 million deal to buy the former Sleep Inn & Suites Downtown Inner Harbor and the Holiday Inn Express Baltimore-Downtown which are adjacent to each other along Interstate 83.

All three hotels came into Baltimore’s use during the pandemic as concerns about social distancing grew. Post-pandemic, hotel-based shelters have persisted as city leaders across the country have found the spaces can offer more long-term transitional housing.

Baltimore’s other two hotels were converted into “permanent supportive housing,” a form of affordable housing that provides subsidized rent and social services, health care, counseling and other supports.

Baltimore set aside more than $40 million in federal pandemic aid to acquire shelter space. American Rescue Plan Act funds must be spent by the end of 2026.

Mayor Brandon Scott would not say Wednesday whether additional hotel purchases are on the horizon.

“We will acquire all the necessary housing that we can,” Scott said, noting that the city is facing federal pressure. The Trump administration has cut funding for homeless housing programs, and the president cleared dozens of homeless encampments in Washington, D.C., amid a takeover of the city Police Department.

“We can see what’s happening around the country, especially with the pressures from the federal government,” Scott said. “We just have to be prepared.”