Amazon will spend $ 2 billion in a fund designed to maintain and create affordable housing in three communities near the US headquarters of the e-commerce giant, the company announced on Wednesday.
The funds will be used to create or maintain 20,000 affordable homes in Arlington, Virginia; Nashville, Ten .; and the Seattle areas, the three regions that host Amazon, the company said.
The technology giant has said it will provide market capital in the form of affordable loans, lines of credit and subsidies for housing efforts in the three areas. Amazon said it supports households that make up between 30 and 80 percent of the area’s average income.
Amazon’s first investment will include nearly $ 382 million in loans and grants under the Washington Housing Conservancy Market to maintain and create up to 1,300 affordable homes on the Crystal House property in Arlington, according to the announcement.
The first investment will also include about $ 185 million in sub-market loans and grants to the King County Housing Authority to keep up to 1,000 affordable homes in Washington state.
Amazon’s latest pressure to invest in affordable housing near its offices across the country comes as tech giants have faced criticism for rising house prices in the Bay Area and longtime residents’ displacement.
Facebook and Google have previously made investments to help the Bay Area housing crisis.