Amazon is investing $ 2 billion to build affordable housing in these three cities

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The tech giant’s new Housing Equity Fund will invest in moderate to low-income homes around Seattle, Nashville and Arlington, Virginia, where the company ultimately expects to have at least 5,000 employees each.

“This new $ 2 billion Housing Equity Fund will create or maintain 20,000 affordable homes in all three of our headquarters regions – Arlington, Puget Sound and Nashville,” Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder and CEO, said in a statement. “It will also help local families achieve long-term stability while building strong, inclusive communities.”

The initial investment of more than $ 567 million will go to 1,300 affordable apartment units near “HQ2,” Amazon’s new Virginia headquarters, and up to 1,000 apartments near its Seattle, Washington headquarters.

In Arlington, Amazon said it has invested $ 381.9 million in loans offered below market rates, as well as grants to Washington Housing Conservancy earmarked for 1,300 affordable homes on the Crystal House property near HQ2. And in Washington, Amazon’s $ 185.5 million investment went to the King County Housing Authority to maintain up to 1,000 affordable homes. in Bellevue.

Amazon has been criticized in the past for gentrifying the areas where it has opened major operations and driving up the cost of housing.
A number of cities competed aggressively to become the new home for HQ2 – with Arlington, Virginia, and Long Island City, Queens, in New York, ultimately winning the bid for a split headquarters in 2018.
But the response from community leaders and local government officials in Queens eventually led to Amazon’s withdrawal from New York. Local officials at the time said Amazon showed little interest in talks about things like traffic congestion and rising housing costs that may have accompanied thousands of well-paid tech workers in Queens.

Amazon says its new approach is designed to help low- and middle-income families in the areas it currently calls home.

In each of the three regions, the company focuses on housing for households earning between 30% and 80% of the area’s median income.

In addition to the $ 2 billion investment, the fund also includes $ 125 million in grants to minority-led organizations and public institutions aimed at reducing the shortage of affordable housing that disproportionately affects people of color, Amazon said.

The fund will also provide grants to government partners, such as transportation companies and school districts, to help working families in those areas.

“In fast-growing cities in the US, many apartment buildings that are affordable for teachers, caregivers, transit workers and others with modest incomes are increasingly being redeveloped into luxury apartments, creating displacement and reducing housing options for working families,” said Sarah Rosen Wartell, chairman from the Municipal Institute in a statement.

“Investments such as those announced by Amazon that help preserve these existing buildings and maintain moderate rental levels are critical to local efforts that promote economic inclusion and support the stability and economic mobility of middle and low-income families.”

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