Bellwether Housing and Amazon Team Up to Preserve Affordable Housing
20 October 2021 - 4:00AM
Business Wire
Bellwether Housing, King County, Washington’s largest nonprofit
affordable housing provider, has acquired 213 affordable homes at
two locations: The BLVD, a 136-unit apartment complex in Kent and
The Marina Club, a 77-unit in Des Moines. This acquisition is part
of Bellwether’s strategy to preserve existing affordability levels
in lower-cost rental housing in locations highly vulnerable to
steep rent increases.
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The BLVD Apartment Community in Kent,
Washington (Photo: Business Wire)
These acquisitions were made possible by the Amazon Housing
Equity Fund, a $2 billion commitment to preserve and create more
than 20,000 affordable housing units by offering low-rate loans and
grants to housing partners, traditional and non-traditional public
agencies, and minority-led organizations. The low-cost financing
allows Bellwether to compete with commercial-rate buyers who would
acquire these units with the goal of significantly increasing
existing rents.
Bellwether’s CEO, Susan Boyd, explained, “The Amazon Housing
Equity Fund could not have come at a better time. Our goal has been
to preserve as much affordability in King County as we can before
it’s too late. Public funding sources are severely constrained and
have not prioritized this kind of strategy. As we were preparing
our hunt for low-cost capital, Amazon announced its Fund. We
anticipate this tool will allow us to bring hundreds more units
into permanent affordability and prevent hundreds of lower income
families from being displaced from their homes.”
“We are so pleased to be a part of the solution by addressing
housing shortages in our region,” said Catherine Buell, Director of
the Amazon Housing Equity Fund. “By teaming up with organizations
such as Bellwether Housing, we are able to help grow the housing
stock for households making moderate- to low-incomes. These
households may include teachers, transit workers and firefighters
-- people whose jobs may pay a modest income, but whose
contributions are invaluable.”
The Amazon Housing Equity Fund has made prior investments in
Puget Sound including funding $185.5 million in low-rate loans and
grants to King County Housing Authority to preserve affordability
for 1,000 apartment homes and committing $100 million in low-rate
funding to developers to help create and expedite the development
of Sound Transit property offered for affordable housing. These
latest commitments bring that figure to more than $310 million in
loans and grants in the region to date.
Bellwether’s preservation strategy has targeted South King
County, where the development of light rail and other commercial
growth are pushing rents up faster than other parts of the region,
and where immigrants, refugees and other lower income families are
particularly vulnerable to displacement.
The financing for these acquisitions also included tax-exempt
financing from CitiBank and equity investments from Bellwether
Housing.
About Bellwether Housing:
Bellwether Housing is the largest private, nonprofit affordable
housing provider in Seattle. Bellwether has developed and operated
housing for low-income individuals, families, seniors and
households transitioning out of homelessness since 1980. We
currently serve over 3500 residents in 2,100 apartments and intend
to serve 4600 residents in 47 buildings by 2025.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211019005851/en/
Amy Besunder Director of Fund Development & Communications
Bellwether Housing abesunder@bellwetherhousing.org or
206-718-5235
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