Amazon providing $23M for affordable housing in Seattle

Jun 23, 2022, 10:23 AM | Updated: 11:02 am

SEATTLE (AP) — Amazon said Thursday it is providing $23 million to help minority-led organizations build or preserve more than 500 new affordable housing units in Seattle — the latest spending by a tech company to ease a severe housing crunch the industry has helped create.

The commitment comes from Amazon’s Housing Equity Fund, a $2 billion initiative launched in January 2021. The fund has so far invested more than $1.2 billion to create or preserve over 8,000 affordable homes across three regions where the company has offices: the Puget Sound in Washington state; Arlington, Virginia; and Nashville, Tennessee.

“When our city’s businesses and private partners step up, like Amazon is doing through this significant investment, we can accelerate progress addressing difficult challenges like housing affordability,” Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell said in a news release announcing the investment.

The high salaries tech companies pay have helped drive up housing costs in the cities where they operate, pricing many people, including teachers, nurses, firefighters and restaurant employees, out of the communities where they work.

The industry was long criticized for failing to address that, but in recent years tech giants have taken big steps. In 2019, Apple committed $2.5 billion toward affordable housing in the San Francisco Bay Area; Google devoted $1 billion; Microsoft said it would provide $750 million in housing grants and investments in the Puget Sound region; and Facebook, now Meta, said it would spend $1 billion to help address the housing crisis in California by creating up to 20,000 new affordable housing units.

The Amazon Housing Equity Fund offers grants and low-rate loans to housing providers that create or preserve affordable homes, with an emphasis on supporting households earning 30% to 80% of an area’s median income.

The new investments are the fund’s first in Seattle proper, though it previously has put money toward housing elsewhere in the region, including near transit stations in SeaTac and Bellevue.

Catherine Buell, the fund’s director, noted the housing crisis is disproportionately affecting people of color. That was one reason it was important to work with nonprofit organizations and real estate organizations led by Black, Asian and Hispanic partners.

Amazon is working with three organizations — the Mount Baker Housing Authority, El Centro de la Raza and Gardner Global — on four housing projects, totaling 568 units in south Seattle neighborhoods that feature large populations of people of color and which have rapidly gentrified or are at risk of it.

Three of the four projects involved will be affordable for those making up to 60% of the area median income — that’s $54,350 for a single person or $77,650 for a family of four, according to the Seattle Office of Housing. The fourth, a new apartment building by Black-owned Gardner Global with 122 units, mostly studio and one-bedroom, will serve those who earn up to 80% of the area median income, or $66,750 for a single person.

In the news release announcing the investments, David Tan, executive director of the Mount Baker Housing Authority, called the funding a “game-changer.”

“The Fund is a source of affordable, patient capital that gives developers much-needed flexibility in financing our projects,” Tan said.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP

(AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)...

Associated Press

Donald Trump stored, showed off and refused to return classified documents, indictment says

An indictment charging former President Donald Trump with mishandling classified documents has been unsealed.

2 days ago

FILE - A bottle of Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey is displayed next to a Bad Spaniels dog toy in A...

Associated Press

Ruff day in court: Supreme Court sides with Jack Daniel’s in dispute with makers of dog toy

The Supreme Court on Thursday gave whiskey maker Jack Daniel's reason to raise a glass, handing the company a new chance to win a trademark dispute with the makers of the Bad Spaniels dog toy.

3 days ago

(Pixabay Photo)...

Associated Press

6 arrested in alleged scheme to fraudulently collect millions in COVID aid meant for renters

Six people from Washington, Arizona and Texas have been arrested and accused of fraudulently obtaining millions of dollars of COVID-19 aid from an assistance program meant for renters, federal prosecutors said.

3 days ago

FILE - Protesters stand outside of the Senate chamber at the Indiana Statehouse on Feb. 22, 2023, i...

Associated Press

LGBTQ+ Americans are under attack, Human Rights Campaign declares in state of emergency warning

The Human Rights Campaign declared a state of emergency for LGBTQ+ people in the U.S. on Tuesday.

5 days ago

FILE - People wait in line outside the Supreme Court in Washington to listen to oral arguments in a...

Associated Press

Supreme Court opened the door to states’ voting restrictions. Now a new ruling could widen them.

Within hours of a U.S. Supreme Court decision dismantling a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, Texas lawmakers announced plans to implement a strict voter ID law that had been blocked by a federal court. Lawmakers in Alabama said they would press forward with a similar law that had been on hold.

5 days ago

Gavel (Pexels Photo)...

Associated Press

Ex-teacher sentenced to prison for making death threat against Arizona legislator

A former Tucson middle school teacher was sentenced Tuesday to 2 ½ years in prison after pleading guilty to making a death threat against Arizona state Sen. Wendy Rogers.

5 days ago

Sponsored Articles

...

OCD & Anxiety Treatment Center

How to identify the symptoms of 3 common anxiety disorders

Living with an anxiety disorder can be debilitating and cause significant stress for those who suffer from the condition.

(Photo: OCD & Anxiety Treatment Center)...

OCD & Anxiety Treatment Center

Here’s what you need to know about OCD and where to find help

It's fair to say that most people know what obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders generally are, but there's a lot more information than meets the eye about a mental health diagnosis that affects about one in every 100 adults in the United States.

...

Day & Night Air Conditioning, Heating and Plumbing

Company looking for oldest air conditioner and wants to reward homeowner with new one

Does your air conditioner make weird noises or a burning smell when it starts? If so, you may be due for an AC unit replacement.

Amazon providing $23M for affordable housing in Seattle