Amazon has announced a $300 million commitment in support of affordable housing in Washington's Puget Sound region, as well as in Arlington, Virginia, and Nashville, Tennessee.

Part of the ecommerce giant's $2 billion Housing Equity Fund announced in January, the commitment will support the creation of more than three thousand affordable homes near public transit as early as 2025. According to Amazon, transit-oriented development is a unique approach to preserving and creating affordable housing options and provides a range of benefits, including greater economic activity, reduced traffic congestion and associated environmental benefits, and a strengthened, more resilient labor force.

The commitment includes $125 million in below-market capital to create a thousand housing units on surplus land in partnership with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Metro) in Arlington (HQ2); $100 million in below-market capital to expedite the creation of up to twelve hundred housing units on surplus properties in partnership with Sound Transit; and $75 million in below-market capital for developers to build eight hundred units on privately owned land within a half-mile of WeGo transit corridors in Nashville.

"Transportation and housing costs account for a significant portion of the average person’s expenses," said Jay Carney, Amazon's senior vice president, global corporate affairs. "By investing $300 million of Amazon's $2 billion Housing Equity Fund in transit-oriented housing development, moderate- to low-income families in Puget Sound, Arlington, and Nashville will be able to reduce their expenditures on housing while gaining easy transit to jobs and amenities. We hope this will pave a path for more inclusive communities."

(Photo credit: Joel Flora)