Amazon has announced commitments totaling $161.5 million to help preserve affordable housing in Arlington County, Virginia, and Nashville, Tennessee.

The investments include a $160 million low-rate loan from Amazon’s Housing Equity Fund to fill finance gaps and preserve more than thirteen hundred affordable units at the Barcroft Apartment community, located near Amazon's new headquarters campus in Arlington. The Arlington County board also has committed to a $150 million loan to enable the affordable housing provider to acquire the property. The real estate deal is designed to maintain, for a period of ninety-nine years, housing affordability for families earning up to 60 percent of area median income, which for a family of four in Arlington County currently is $77,400, according to Virginia Housing.

Through its Housing Equity Fund, Amazon also donated $1.5 million to the Housing Fund in Nashville to help ease increased tax burdens on eligible landlords who are committed to maintaining affordable housing but might otherwise need to raise rents. The contribution is in addition to Amazon’s $2.25 million donation in 2020 to establish the Housing Resiliency Fund at the Housing Fund and help provide qualified homeowners with property tax relief. Launched in January, the $2 billion Housing Equity Fund aims to preserve and create more than twenty thousand affordable housing units in the Puget Sound region of Washington as well as in Arlington and Nashville.

“The shortage of affordable housing has been a chronic challenge for this region. By teaming up with Arlington County, Amazon can help be a part of the solution,” said Amazon Housing Equity Fund director Catherine Buell. “Joining forces with a diverse group of public and private housing partners ensures that moderate- to low- income families are supported with access to opportunity and long-term financial stability. These families are the heart of our community and include teachers, law enforcement, construction, and transit workers, just to name a few.”

(Photo credit: courtesy of Amazon)