King County purchased the Red Lion Hotel located at 1 S. Grady Way in Renton for $36.2 million, or about $161,607 per room. The seller was an entity affiliated with Dayabir Bath and Renton Hotel Investors LLC, reported the Puget Sound Business Journal.

The property site spans about 5.16 acres on the southwest end of the city. King County had been leasing the six-story, 224-room building since the beginning of the pandemic as an emergency shelter facility but the structure has been vacant since June of 2022. King County continued to lease the building for $330,000 a month and now the county has decided to acquire the hotel rather than pay the lease.

The $36.2 million sale included $200,000 worth of furniture and accessories. The 61,200 square-foot hotel was purchased by King County as part of its Health Through Housing program aimed to address homelessness and repurposing hotels and other existing buildings.

Image credit: Renton Reporter