Amazon and Sound Transit today announced a partnership to speed the creation of up to 1,200 new affordable apartments near light rail stations across the Puget Sound region.
Amazon is committing $100 million in below-market funding to developers to help create and expedite the development of Sound Transit property offered for affordable housing.
The partnership will help ensure that moderate- to low-income families can afford to live in great neighborhoods with easy access to reliable transit, jobs, schools, health care, education and other amenities.
This is the second investment in the region from Amazon’s Housing Equity Fund—a more than $2 billion commitment to preserve and create over 20,000 affordable homes through below-market loans and grants.
Visit amazon.com/housingequity to learn more.
Transit-oriented development (TOD) promotes diverse, connected and sustainable communities.
Sound Transit’s TOD program has built, is constructing, or is designing more than 1,500 affordable apartments on Sound Transit surplus property.
Learn more about TOD at Sound Transit here.
The Amazon funds could support upcoming projects in Bellevue, Kent, Lynnwood, SeaTac, Seattle and other locations as the system expands to the north, east and southern areas of Puget Sound.
The first $25 million will fund pre-development activities like site due diligence, engineering and permitting, while the remaining $75 million will support the construction of new affordable housing, which is expected to begin within five years.
Our TOD program “relies extensively on partnerships with developers, cities, and affordable housing funders to achieve these complex projects,” said Thatcher Imboden, Sound Transit’s director for land use planning and development. “There are not enough resources to meet the affordable housing needs in this region and this partnership with Amazon will help build more affordable housing units sooner.”