A closed southern Dallas hospital could become the site of affordable housing for people experiencing homelessness.
The Dallas City Council is scheduled to vote today on whether to spend $6.5 million in bond money to buy the former University General Hospital.
The medical facility has been closed since 2014 and sits on about 12 acres along South Hampton Road in Oak Cliff. The property is bordered by an elementary school and library, single-family homes, a senior living apartment complex and Kiest Park.
The money would come from bond money approved by voters in 2017 specifically set aside for transitional and permanent housing meant for people experiencing chronic homelessness and other related services. More money could be needed in the future for renovations and other upgrades.
The scope of planned housing on the site is not immediately clear. Christine Crossley, Dallas’ homeless solutions office director, declined comment on the proposal before Wednesday’s vote.
“It really needs to have public debate, and we need to hear what the council wants to do before we say anything,” she said Tuesday.
Council member Casey Thomas, who heads the council’s homelessness and housing committee and the elected official who represents where the site is located, didn’t immediately return a message for comment Tuesday.
Some residents in the area said the city sent no public notify to the community about plans to buy the site or sought their feedback.
The purpose of buying the property would be for a mix of affordable and supportive housing options, according to city documents. It’s also meant to use the existing medical facilities and other services meant to aid the homeless population and the surrounding community.
The 111-bed hospital had been through two bankruptcies in a decade before it was bought in 2012 by Houston-based University General Health System.
In December 2014, two years after buying the hospital for $30 million, the health care system announced it would closing the hospital. The company filed for bankruptcy a few months later.
In bankruptcy court filings, the company said the hospital averaged more than $1 million a month in operating losses after it was bought and that it was closed after discussions to sell it fell through.
