SOUTH PORTLAND — The owner of two hotels near the Maine Mall said Friday that the properties will stop hosting indigenous homeless people because of the complaints he heard about a wide variety of problems affecting nearby businesses, their employees and their customers.
Suresh Gali, head of New Gen Hospitality Management, made the announcement at the end of a virtual meeting with at least 160 residents, business owners and others invited by city officials to address concerns related to four local hotels that have been providing emergency shelter to homeless people during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Suresh Gali, head of New Gen Hospitality Management, speaks during a virtual Friday meeting hosted by South Portland officials to address problems generated largely by indigenous homeless people being housed at three of his company’s hotels. Kelley Bouchard/Staff Writer
Several business owners near the Maine Mall said that since the city of Portland has been housing homeless people at the Days Inn and Comfort Inn, both on Maine Mall Road, they have been frustrated by the behavior of residents, harassing customers for money, shooting up in public bathrooms and defecting in shrubbery.
Several said they have lost business as a result. One business owner said the situation has gotten so bad, he’s on the verge of closing or filing a lawsuit.
At the end of the nearly three-hour meeting, Gali told participants that he will not renew a contract with MaineHousing to provide emergency shelter at his Days Inn and Comfort Inn when the contract runs out May 31.
“New Gen Hospitality agreed to work with the state with a goal to assist individuals where we thought we could,” Gali said in an email after the meeting. “We have heard the concerns of our neighbors and so at the end of our current agreement with the state, New Gen Hospitality will let our agreement expire.”
The pending loss of emergency housing at the two hotels poses a significant challenge for Portland officials, who struggled to accommodate a growing homeless population long before the pandemic.
“It’s unfortunate we are in the position of having to identify other options for the 290 individuals who are currently being sheltered at these two hotels,” said Kristen Dow, Portland’s health and human services director. “We are actively working with MaineHousing and state officials to identify new emergency shelter space. We will continue to keep the community and our partners updated as we move forward.”
Dow noted during Friday’s Zoom meeting that only about one-third of the 976 homeless people currently in the city’s care are from Portland; the rest came from all over Maine and beyond.
“We cannot continue to be an emergency shelter for the entire state,” Dow said. “Other municipalities are going to have to step up.”
In recent months, the city has housed homeless clients in 10 hotels in Portland, South Portland, Westbrook, Old Orchard Beach and Freeport. Many are asylum seekers, but the majority of complaints discussed Friday were about indigenous homeless people who appear to have substance use and mental health issues.
“MaineHousing remains committed to finding a solution and safe shelter for all who are currently being housed in the South Portland hotels when these contracts expire at the end of May,” MaineHousing spokesman Scott Thistle said in an email after the meeting.
This story will be updated.
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