The Astro Motel off Route 66 on the west side of Amarillo, Texas, will become a housing complex for homeless veterans.
The Amarillo Globe-News reported that Homeless Heroes of Amarillo had secured the $565,000 needed to purchase the property at 5703 W. Amarillo Blvd. (aka Route 66).
The current 20-room configuration will be turned into 14 to 15 single or double-person units that will have a full kitchen and laundry for use by each resident. Each room will be HUD (Housing and Urban Development) compliant and will have a sponsor that will work to get every room furnished with all the equipment it requires, so each room could be decorated differently depending on the sponsor. […]
The rooms, which are about 350 square feet (about the area of a parking space), will be upgraded to about 500 to 550 square feet (about twice the area of a parking space). Israel says he hopes that the first phase of the project, which will come in three phases, will be complete by Veterans’ Day with five units available. […]
Veterans who stay in the facility are expected to be housed for 12 to 36 months, depending on their situation, until they can get permanent housing.
Appropriately enough, the Astro Motel is located virtually across the street from a U.S. Veterans Affairs medical center.
According to TheRoute-66.com, the motel originally opened as the Sunset Motel in 1950, then later was renamed.
(Screen-capture image from KAMR video of the Astro Motel in Amarillo, Texas)