Family Promise of Tualatin Valley is in the process of buying the Tigard Quality Inn to serve houseless families and others on a temporary basis.

Family Promise of Tualatin Valley is in the process of purchasing the Quality Inn Tigard — Portland Southwest to temporarily house homeless families and individuals.

On March 21, members of the Tigard City Council agreed to give the nonprofit $1 million in tax increment financing funds to help purchase and make renovations to the hotel, located at 11460 S.W. Pacific Highway in Tigard.

The total purchase price of the hotel is $12.5 million, with $10 million coming from a grant through Oregon Project Turnkey, which is administered by the Oregon Community Foundation. In addition, $2.1 million would come from Washington County’s Supportive Services program.

“There will be 114 rooms at the Quality Inn property, although many of them are adjoining, which is ideal for our larger families,” Elise Schaff Laubach, fund development manager for Family Promise of Tualatin Valley, told the city councilors, who were sitting as the governing board for Tigard’s urban renewal agency.

Schaff Laubach said Family Promise’s goal is to serve as many as 70 family units, including adult-only households.

While the organization relied heavily on local churches and civic organizations to house families on a temporary basis, that changed with the COVID-19 pandemic when Family Promise of Tualatin Valley began operating 40 rooms at another Tigard hotel. Since then, they have started the process of transitioning some residents to the Quality Inn.

Although Family Promise currently has an office on the property of Rolling Hills Community Church in Stafford, office personnel and services would all move to the Tigard hotel location if the deal goes through. One of those services is an eviction-prevention service, to help residents who are currently housed avoid being evicted by landlords.

Schaff Laubach said there are plans to locate clothing and food pantries on-site at the hotel, as well as co-locating mental health and family services there.

“The location couldn’t really be more ideal,” said Schaff Laubach. “It is right on a main thoroughfare. There’s public transit right there, and yet it’s private.”

She said Family Promise is talking with local businesses to reassure them they will have a “good-neighbor contract” in place between those businesses and the hotel.

Plans are to fill in the hotel’s swimming pool, possibly replacing it with an outdoor dining space or play space, Schaff Laubach said. Also planned is an on-site commercial kitchen to provide full meals for families.

Rose Money, the nonprofit’s executive director, said purchasing the hotel makes those involved feel “like kids in a candy store” because the new building will provide opportunities to expand community involvement and programming.

Following Family Promise’s presentation, Tigard Mayor Heidi Lueb praised the planned purchase of the hotel, saying it lines up with one of the city’s goals of reducing homelessness.

The Quality Inn is inside the Tigard Triangle, which is bounded by Highway 99W, Interstate 5 and Highway 217.

Within the Triangle, Tigard applies what city officials call a “lean code” for new construction, making it easier for developers to receive approval for new construction or renovations.