Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announces an additional $1.4 billion to a fund it established three years ago for preserving or building more affordable housing in regions where the company has major corporate offices on Tuesday, June 11, 2024.
Housing advocates in cities like Seattle and San Francisco have long blamed an influx of corporate workers for driving up the demand for housing and pricing out long-time residents. “We’ve made a big difference in both the amount and quality of affordable housing in these three communities,” she said.
The company previously received some criticism in Northern Virginia for neglecting the housing needs of people on the lower end of the income spectrum. Projects designed for such individuals are likely to require more government subsidies and take longer to complete, said Derek Hyra, a professor at American University and a founding director of the Metropolitan Policy Center.