On the side of busy Route 301 in Newburg, Maryland, about an hour south of Washington, D.C., Sandy Washington opened the door to a newly renovated corner apartment. Inside, the walls are painted bright yellow and soothing blue. A child’s bedroom is outfitted with bunk beds and a homework nook.

“Welcome to Southern Crossing,” she said. “This is one of our first models.”

Washington is CEO of LifeStyles of Maryland, a nonprofit housing provider in Southern Maryland. Southern Crossing is the new name of what had been a classic 1950s motel. This two-bedroom apartment used to be three separate motel rooms. The door opens to a large kitchen, stocked with donated furniture and supplies.

“Our idea about this is that when families move in, these places are fully furnished,” she said. “From the dishes, pots and pans, everything is here.” 

When it opens this fall, Southern Crossing will offer transitional housing, up to two years, for low-income people experiencing homelessness, domestic violence or other crises.

“And so hopefully, when they move out, they can take all of those things with them,” Washington said. “We want to make sure everybody starts off with the tools they need to stabilize their household.”

Built in 1953, the White House Motel was something in its day, with a three-story main structure reminiscent of its more famous namesake, flanked by low brick buildings with white columns. Old postcards show a big neon sign out front and a grand lobby with a plush red carpet and chandelier.

In the 1950s and ’60s, this area was known as Maryland’s “Little Vegas.” 

“Nothing but motels and gambling, down this whole 301 strip,” Washington said. 

But in 1968, gambling was outlawed in the county. Then, Washington said, new interstate highways diverted travelers from what had been the main route south from Baltimore to Virginia, “and so those places started to become obsolete.” 

The motel has been vacant since 2010. When her group took over, Washington said the beds were still made. 

“We thought, we’ll just take that motel and put some paint on it and, you know, shampoo the stuff that’s there and move people right on in,” she said. “Boy, were we so wrong.”

They filled many dumpsters with rotting carpet and bedding and had to install a brand-new septic system and water tower. Seven years and about $4 million later, they’re hoping to finish the first units by the end of next month and start moving people in shortly after. Residents will pay subsidized rents, ranging from $900 to $1,800 per month, depending on their income and apartment size. 

“Altogether, when this project is done, we’ll be able to house 77 people at a time,” Washington said.

It’s a small but significant dent in a huge national problem. The National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates the country is short more than 7 million rental homes for people with extremely low incomes. Meanwhile, travel patterns and tastes have changed, leaving many hotels defunct or simply outdated. 

“The old adage of “we’ll leave the light on,” that’s great, but the light might be burned out,” said Doug Ressler with the real estate data company Yardi Matrix, referring to the old Motel 6 slogan. 

According to RentCafe, based on Yardi data, hotel conversions created 4,556 new apartments in 2023, an all-time high. Most of those units are affordable housing, Ressler said. Hotels are typically located near major thoroughfares, connecting residents to transit and jobs, he said. 

“So, they’re excellently located,” he said. “Because they have existing plumbing, they have an existing structure, to be able to convert them takes less time than building from the ground up.”

In Albuquerque, New Mexico, New Life Homes has converted two old motels along historic Route 66 to permanent affordable housing.

“It’s typically not for the faint of heart,” said John Bloomfield, the nonprofit’s executive director. “It is a lengthy journey.”

A journey requiring asbestos and lead mitigation, and navigating zoning and historic preservation requirements and not-in-my-backyard pushback.

“Neighbors typically don’t like affordable housing.” Bloomfield said. “Part of our work is to show that our projects add value to neighborhoods, and property values improve.”

So, what’s it like to live in a converted motel? Cheryl Edenfield moved into Albuquerque’s historic Luna Lodge a little more than a decade ago after years of homelessness.

“It was nice and retro-looking, but the insides were beautiful,” she said. “They redid everything — new units, new floors — because it was a pretty ratty hotel before that.”

Now she’s at the Sundowner, another New Life property, with a community garden and food donations from local grocery stores.

“People look out for each other a lot,” she said. “Everybody knows everybody.”

At the former White House Motel in Maryland, Washington is looking forward to the day when children play on the planned playgrounds and residents gather in the main building. Once renovated, the space will include rooms for job and life skills training, a library and chapel — a community where once, people were just passing through, then passing by.

“Consider what you can do, turning something that’s no longer useful that could really make a difference in someone’s life,” she said. “If we could convert all of these into something like that, imagine what we could do.”