Seattle spent millions to shelter people in hotel rooms. Then it stopped filling them

In the years following the pandemic, the city of Seattle leaned into a strategy to convert hotels into shelters. At one point, the Civic Hotel was full of residents. But later, many of the rooms sat empty , even though the City of Seattle was still paying the rent. KUOW investigative reporter Ashley Hiruko is here to tell us what happened. Her new story is co-published by ProPublica. We can only make Seattle Now because listeners support us. Tap here to make a gift and keep Seattle Now in your feed. Got questions about local news or story ideas to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at seattlenow@kuow.org , leave us a voicemail at (206) 616-6746 or leave us feedback online . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.