Amazon CEO Andy Jassy recently announced that the company is adding $1.4 billion to its Housing Equity Fund and has pledged to preserve and create an additional 14,000 housing units in regions including Seattle, Nashville, Tenn., and Arlington, Va. This commitment brings the company’s total support for affordable housing to more than $3.6 billion, funding more than 35,000 housing units in Amazon’s “hometown communities.” The high-paying tech jobs in these regions have exacerbated economic divides and caused housing shortages for lower-income residents.
Amazon launched its Housing Equity Fund in January 2021 with a $2 billion pledge. The fund aims to increase the affordable housing inventory through below-market loans and grants to public agencies, housing partners, and minority-led organizations. The company has surpassed its original funding and housing goals, contributing $2.2 billion and providing more than 21,000 affordable homes for households earning between 30% and 80% of the area median income. Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell expressed gratitude for Amazon’s support, highlighting the importance of affordable housing initiatives in the community.
Organizations working to deploy more housing, such as Great Expectations, an affordable housing development company in Seattle, have praised Amazon’s efforts in supporting the sector. Amazon has funded more than 8,600 units in the Seattle area and increased the affordable housing stock by 30% in Bellevue, Wash., where it has been expanding its office space. Microsoft is also playing an important role in the affordable housing sector by helping developers buy tax-exempt bonds and providing financing for land acquisitions. Both companies have made significant contributions to creating affordable housing in the Puget Sound region.
Amazon’s announcement comes amidst a broader effort by tech giants to address the housing crisis in their communities. In 2019, Microsoft pledged $500 million to support affordable housing efforts in the Seattle area, prompting other tech companies like Apple, Google, and Facebook (now Meta) to follow suit. Relations between Amazon and Seattle leadership have been strained in the past, leading to the company no longer considering Seattle as its headquarters. However, efforts to address the housing crisis, such as the JumpStart Seattle payroll tax and the Seattle Housing Levy, have helped fund affordable housing programs in the city.
While efforts by Amazon, Microsoft, and other tech companies have added to the housing inventory in the Seattle region, the crisis is far from over. Seattle alone needs more than 70,000 new low- and middle-income housing units in the coming decades. The recent layoffs in the tech sector have added to the challenges, but companies like Amazon and Microsoft have seen growth, benefiting from a rebound in the tech industry. Moving forward, leveraging AI expertise to cut costs and gain efficiencies in developing new housing could be a way for tech companies to continue supporting affordable housing initiatives in their communities.
