Note: Updated on 8/21 to include commentary by Mayor Pavone, who reinforced that he has been working to prevent this hotel from becoming a shelter for Burien’s use (new paragraph 4)
Burien City leaders have been in the news as they work to find shelter for residents experiencing homelessness who are camped in their downtown not far from city hall. A letter from King County Regional Homelessness Authority, along with blog sources, refers to discussion of Burien seeking shelter space in Renton for these residents.
In the City of Burien’s most recent public statement on this issue, they said “City personnel have identified several potential sites, including a facility operated by REBLX, a partner agency of KCRHA” Other documents make clear the REBLX site is a hotel in Renton. As a result, I’ve had several Renton residents ask me “are they talking about Renton’s Extended Stay, Clarion Inn, Red Lion, or what?”
The answer is they are discussing the former Econo Lodge, now called the “Inn at Lake Washington”, at Exit 7, in Kennydale. When I did an analysis in April of Renton Hotels being used for King County Homeless shelters, the Econo Lodge was not on the shelter list. At that time, I pointed out that 22 percent of Renton’s hotel rooms had been converted from traveler use to shelter use, while county-wide (including 38 other cities) only 4% of hotel rooms have been converted to shelter use. With the Econo Lodge, Renton’s percentage of converted hotels would reach 29%.
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