Community Development
Nashville, TN
Region
About the Nashville, TN Region
Nashville has, by total number of units, the most multifamily units under construction in America. However, very few of those new units will be affordable. Amazon is working to create more affordable housing opportunities. Nashville’s need for affordable housing is great and Amazon is committed to helping find a solution. Approximately 75% are households of color, and of these households, 75% make less than 80% of Nashville’s Area Median Income (AMI). This translates to less than $68,000 annually for a family of four, and less than $48,000 for an individual. About 31% of the households served are on a fixed income.
Preservation of Affordability
The Housing Resiliency Fund
Between 2020 and 2021, Amazon contributed $3.75 million to The Housing Fund (a Nashville-based nonprofit) to establish the organization’s Housing Resiliency Fund.
This fund will provide qualified homeowners with property tax relief and/or mortgage payments to mitigate the impact of rising housing costs so these homeowners can maintain critical, long- term financial stability.
Minority Developers
The Housing Equity Fund has teamed up with The Urban League of Middle Tennessee (ULMT) to launch ULMT RED – Urban League of Middle Tennessee Real Estate Developers Academy, an initiative focused on accelerating new opportunities for emerging real estate developers of color while also increasing affordable housing in Nashville.
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Transit-Oriented Development
In the Nashville, Tennessee region, Amazon has committed to providing $75 million in below-market loans to developers to create 800 affordable homes along high-capacity WeGo transit corridors. WeGo is the primary regional transit agency operating bus and paratransit service across Nashville, serving approximately 30,000 riders daily, including many middle- and lower-income riders. Amazon’s involvement in the development process in Nashville over the next five years will focus on affordable properties within a half-mile of transit stops and prioritize opportunities to invest in minority-led organizations and racially and economically diverse communities.
The Amazon Housing Equity Fund will invest $10.6 million to help build and renovate more than 130 affordable homes within 1⁄2 mile of high-quality transit. Amazon’s commitment consists of a $7.1 million low-rate loan to support the construction of Cherry Oak Apartments, a mixed-income residential development featuring 96 apartments, including 53 affordable homes in the Cayce Place neighborhood in East Nashville in partnership with the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency (MDHA). Families living in the affordable units at Cherry Oak Apartments will have guaranteed affordability at or below 80% of area medium income (AMI) for 99 years.
Additionally, Amazon is providing a $3.5 million grant to CrossBridge, a Nashville nonprofit that provides housing and supportive services to adults overcoming addiction. The grant will support CrossBridge’s housing projects on Lindsley Avenue in the Rolling Hill Mill neighborhood for a new 50-unit building and the renovation of an existing 24-unit building into a 34-unit building.
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