Amazon to Invest $2 Billion in Affordable Housing in Three Cities

Amazon has announced that they are pledging $2 billion dollars over the next five years toward affordable housing in three major cities where it has major operations.

The new Housing Equity Fund will invest in moderate to low-income housing around Seattle, Arlington, and Nashville. Amazon expects to have 5,000 employees each in those cities. The $2 Billion commitment is to preserve and create over 20,000 affordable housing units in Washington State’s Pudget Sound region, VA, and TN.

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

The target will be households making 30% to 80% of the area’s median income. They also will provide below-market loans, lines of credit, and grants. Funds will also go towards grants for government partners, transit agencies, and school districts to help the working families.

The first investment of more than $567 million will go toward 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 at below-market rates, as well as grants to Washington Housing Conservancy that will go toward 1,300 affordable homes on the Crystal House property near HQ2. And in Washington, Amazon’s investment of $185.5 million went to the King County Housing Authority to preserve up to 1,000 affordable homes in Bellevue.

Amazon has been criticized in the past for gentrifying the areas where it has opened large operations and driving up the cost of housing.