Amazon has announced $2 billion in loans and grants to secure affordable housing in three U.S. cities where it has major operations, including a Seattle suburb where the online retail giant employs at least 5,000 workers.
Amazon said it would give $185.5 million to the King County Housing Authority to help buy affordable apartments in the region and keep the rents low, The Seattle Times reported Wednesday.
The agency is expected to pair bond funding with the $161.5 million in loans and $24 million in grants from Amazon to fund its recent purchase of three apartment buildings, including 470 units in Bellevue, about 10 miles (16 kilometres) west of Seattle.
Major tech companies can drive up the cost of living in areas surrounding their offices. Amazon is following the likes of Apple, Facebook and Google in focusing on such issues. All three have pledged at least $1 billion to tackle the affordable housing problem in California. Microsoft has also committed $750 million to ease the housing crisis in the Seattle area.
Amazon helped homeless services nonprofit Mary’s Place open a homeless shelter at its Seattle campus last year after pledging $100 million to the project. However, the company fended off a Seattle tax proposal that would have supported affordable housing projects and the homeless population.
Amazon announced plans to build new headquarters in Long Island City, New York. According to reports, the sites on which it was to build offices had been earmarked for residential development, which would have included around 1,500 affordable housing units. Amazon pulled out of the project amid a backlash from politicians and residents.
