Microsoft is Investing $500 Million in Seattle Inexpensive Housing

Microsoft is investing $ 500 million in affordable housing in Seattle

Seattle, WA. Image © Shutterstock

share

share

• Facebook

• Twitter

• Pinterest

• Whatsapp

• Mail

Or

https://www.archdaily.com/909841/microsoft-is-investing-500-dollars-million-in-seattle-affordable-housing

Microsoft has announced plans to allocate $ 500 million to further develop affordable housing solutions in the city of Seattle, Washington. The money, to be distributed as loans and grants, will usher in new solutions to the city’s housing crisis, where income growth has lagged behind soaring property prices.

The investment consists of $ 225 million to subsidize middle-income housing in six target cities, $ 250 million to support low-income housing across the King County area, and $ 25 million in philanthropic grants Tackling homelessness in the greater Seattle area. The tech giant has targeted the region in the immediate vicinity of the location of its Redmond headquarters expansion, which is expected to add 8,000 new employees.

Microsoft Redmond Campus entrance. Image © Shutterstock

The company’s $ 225 million investment in the maintenance and construction of middle-income homes is focused in six cities east of Seattle, namely Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, Issaquah, Renton and Sammamish. Meanwhile, the $ 25 million homeless crisis grants in the Seattle area will include $ 5 million for the Home Base program, which provides legal assistance to homeowners in need of eviction. $ 5 million will also be allocated to a new homelessness agency founded by the City of Seattle and King County.

Microsoft’s investment strategy provides short-term and immediate help for the ongoing real estate crisis in the region through loans and grants. However, the company points out that solving the problem will require much more capital and a change in public policy to make affordable housing more attractive and easier to build.

Microsoft Technology Center in Cologne. Image © Shutterstock

If we are to move forward, we must all work together as a community. We recognize that Microsoft is in a unique position to leverage the size of its balance sheet behind this effort. However, we believe that every individual and company, large or small, has a responsibility to make a contribution. This includes new initiatives to share data on where jobs are being created, home locations and employee commutes. It also includes new work developing the detailed public policy changes needed to provide more affordable housing.
-Microsoft statement

Microsoft’s announcement is the latest in a string of architectural efforts by major technology companies. In December, Google announced plans for its North Bayshore, California campus, while Apple announced plans to build a $ 1 billion campus in Austin, Texas.

News about: Microsoft

7 Lessons From New York’s New Affordable Housing Design Guide

When we think of public housing architecture in the United States, we often think of boxes: large brick buildings with little aesthetic character. However, the effects of standardized high-rise buildings with fluorescent light can be far more than aesthetic for the people who live there.