Community Development

Puget Sound Region,
Washington

a ferris wheel on the waterfront in downtown Seattle

About the Puget Sound Region

$514 million

in committed low-rate loans and predevelopment grants

5,200

affordable homes created or preserved for families making between 30% and 80% of Area Median Income (AMI)

In less than two years since the Fund's creation, Amazon has committed over $514 million in loans and predevelopment grants to create or preserve over 5,200 affordable homes in the Puget Sound region. In Bellevue, Washington alone, we’ve increased the restricted affordable housing stock by approximately 20% as of August 2022.

Preservation of Affordability

In the Puget Sound region Amazon partnered with the King County Housing Authority (KCHA) to preserve over 1,000 units in and around the city of Bellevue. The Hampton Greens property was the largest of the group with over 300 units. These properties represent a significant impact in the area and ensure the long-term preservation of affordability (generally 99 years, with limited exception) that will keep thousands of people in their homes that might otherwise, overtime, have been priced out .

a monorail train traveling through downtown Seattle

Transit-Oriented  Development

In the Puget Sound region, the Amazon Housing Equity Fund committed over $25.8 million in low-rate loans and predevelopment grants for the construction of 233apartments in partnership with Sound Transit and BRDIGE Housing, a nonprofit affordable developer. The development will provide homes that are affordable to families earning between 50% and 60% of AMI and are income-restricted for 99 years.

The building will be located blocks from the future site of Sound Transit’s 120th Street light rail station, which will become a hub for economic development and public spaces, and will connect residents to a rail network stretching from Redmond to Seattle to Lynnwood and Federal Way.

Amazon also committed $16.7 million in low-rate loans and predevelopment grants to Mercy Housing Northwest for the construction of a minimum of 85 affordable homes at 30%, 50% and 60% of AMI the Sound Transit Angle Lake station. Like the Spring District development, these homes will remain affordable for 99 years.

Minority  Developers

Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), a US nonprofit CDFI that supports community development initiatives across the country, has teamed up with Amazon to help build the next generation of real estate developers of color in the Puget Sound region and expand affordable housing in the communities they serve through the Housing Equity Accelerator Program.

See Accelerator Fellows