Microsoft spends a lot of money to improve affordable housing in Seattle

Where the technology sector has exploded, affordable housing has suffered.

Now, Microsoft is following other tech giants wanting to be part of the solution, announcing a $ 500 million fund for homelessness and affordable housing in Seattle on Wednesday.

This is the most important pledge in the company's history and one of the most important granted by a private housing company, according to the Seattle time.

Seattle, like northern California, is facing a shortage of affordable housing as the rapid growth of technology has pushed people to exclude the price from the housing market.

A December municipal report said the Seattle area would need an additional 240,000 affordable housing units by the year 2040, to ensure that low – income households do not spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing.

"At some level, we, as a region, will either have to say that there are areas in which we are more comfortable living, or we simply want to permanently compel people who will teach our children in schools and put out fires in our homes and keep us alive at the hospital, spend four hours a day going to work, "said Microsoft president Brad Smith to the president Seattle weather.

"This is not, in our opinion, the best result for the community."

Where is the money going?

The majority of funds ($ 250 million) will go to market-rate loans for low-cost housing construction in the King County area, which includes the Greater Seattle Area.

An additional $ 225 million will be disbursed to developers at below-market rates for the construction and preservation of middle-income housing, with investments to be made in six cities east of Seattle: Bellevue , Kirkland, Redmond, Issaquah, Renton and Sammamish.

Finally, $ 25 million will be used for homelessness grants in the Seattle area, such as the Home Base program, which allows people at risk of eviction from their homes to access flexible funds. and legal representation.

Microsoft's promise eclipses that of other tech giants. In California, Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have invested their money in affordable housing initiatives through their foundation.

Willow Campus, the future campus of Facebook, will offer 15% of the 1,500 homes offered at rates lower than the market. Google is partnering with a developer and the City of Mountain View to build 6,600 units on its doorstep, with 20% of them to be designated as affordable housing.

Microsoft said it has been working on the plan for eight months. He conceded that it would take more money to solve these problems, as well as public policy changes aimed at making affordable housing construction more attractive.