The company is providing developers with fast access to capital at below-market rates to expedite and create affordable homes that could otherwise be lost to market-rate developers.
The schemes will be built on land owned by transit agencies or privately owned land in close proximity to public transit.
Amazon said that transit-oriented development (TOD) helps moderate- to low-income families be able to afford to live near - and benefit from - quality public transit systems. It said that, when successful, TOD has a range of benefits, including greater economic activity, reduced traffic congestion and associated environmental benefits, and a strengthened labour force.
The company had announced in January that it had set up a US$2bn housing equity fund in January.
“Transportation and housing costs account for a significant portion of the average person’s expenses,” said senior vice president, global corporate affairs, Jay Carney. “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.”
Amazon said that will work closely with public transit agencies to fund development on either surplus land owned by the agencies or privately owned land near active transit corridors to create new, affordable, and move-in ready homes by as early as 2025. This new wave of investments includes US$125 million in below-market loans to developers working with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Metro) to create more than 1,000 new homes in the Washington, DC area; US$100 million in below-market loans to developers working with Sound Transit to accelerate creation of up to 1,200 homes in Washington state’s Puget Sound region; and US$75 million to developers to create an estimated 800 homes on private land in Nashville, Tennessee, near high-capacity WeGo transit corridors.
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