Amazon vows commitment to low-cost housing...
In the heart of Seattle, the Beacon Pacific Village, a 160-unit apartment complex, stands as a testament to Amazon's commitment to affordable housing. Opened last year and fully leased since April, the complex, located in front of Amazon's former headquarters in the Pacific Tower, has primarily housed community members.
The Beacon Pacific Village, with its requirement for 50% to 60% Area Median Income (AMI), is an ideal project for Amazon's Housing Equity Fund. The fund, launched in 2021 with an initial commitment of $2 billion, has already surpassed its initial goal of creating and preserving 20,000 affordable housing units, having completed 21,000 units as of last year.
Amazon's funding for the project included a $17 million low-interest rate loan and a $2 million grant. The funds for the Housing Equity Fund are allocated across three metro areas where Amazon's presence is acute: Seattle, Arlington, Virginia, and Nashville, Tennessee.
Jade Yan, SCIDpda's resident services manager, emphasises the importance of housing led by community development organizations. She states that such housing provides more culturally entrenched affordable housing for the community.
However, the dwindling supply for extremely low-income affordable housing remains a concern. Flattened rents in Seattle are undercutting affordable housing rents, leaving publicly funded housing with higher vacancy rates.
Amazon's affordable housing typically has area median income ranges between 50% and 80%. In Seattle, the area median income for an individual is approximately $110,000. While this falls within the range of housing supported by Amazon, there is a need for lower-income housing.
Shobe, an expert in the field, acknowledges that Amazon has a significant number of units helping families under the 50% median income. He also mentions that Amazon is aware of the need for lower-income housing and manages the tension its own supply of 50% to 80% AMI housing creates.
Meanwhile, another affordable housing project, Connection Angle Lake, is underway in SeaTac, Washington. Located approximately 50 feet from the last stop on Sound Transit's 1 Line, the project is expected to provide much-needed affordable housing in the area.
Despite the progress, there are no available search results specifying which shared housing communities Amazon's Housing Equity Fund has financed near Seattle that support at least 50% of the population below the 50% unemployment threshold.
As Amazon continues to invest in affordable housing, it remains to be seen how these efforts will address the broader issue of affordable housing for the extremely low-income population in the Puget Sound region.
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