Amazon Launches Accelerator Program to Grow Opportunities for Real Estate Developers of Color and Increase Affordable Housing
December 08 2021 - 9:10AM
Business Wire
New pilot program is supported by a more than
$21 million commitment from Amazon to provide real estate
developers of color with education, mentorship, and access to
capital in Amazon’s hometown communities in Washington state’s
Puget Sound region; the Arlington, Virginia region; and Nashville,
Tennessee
Today Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) announced it is committing more than
$21 million to pilot a professional training, mentorship, and
capital funding program to help promote real estate developers of
color. This two-year, part-time professional development program,
which is free for participants, aims to teach real estate
developers of color how to advance their careers. It also aims to
lower the barriers these developers can face when bidding for
affordable housing developments. The goal of the program is to
increase the number of professional real estate developers of color
who are focused on affordable housing and inclusive community
building. This initiative is part of the $2 billion Amazon Housing
Equity Fund, a commitment to create and preserve 20,000 affordable
homes for individuals and families earning moderate to low incomes
in Washington state’s Puget Sound region; the Arlington, Virginia
region; and Nashville, Tennessee.
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Amazon Housing Equity Fund pilots new
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and increase affordable housing (Photo: Business Wire)
“With this accelerator program, we are laser focused on lifting
up emerging real estate developers of color. We want to foster
their professional growth through education and training, as well
as improve their access to capital, which can be elusive to
developers of color,” said Catherine Buell, director of the Amazon
Housing Equity Fund. “If we are going to bring about lasting,
holistic, and meaningful change to how affordable housing is
developed, developers of color need to be a part of the
solution.”
Not only are developers of color underrepresented in the real
estate industry, but they also lack access to the capital and
resources necessary to advance much-needed affordable housing
projects to help their communities. According to a 2019 report from
the Urban Land Institute, a nonprofit research and education
organization for real estate and land use experts, 5% of its U.S.
members are Black and 82% are white, though Blacks represent more
than 13% of the U.S. population. This disparity translates into a
lack of diversity at the project development level that can
subsequently exclude developers of color from working on meaningful
and lucrative housing deals as cities expand.
Amazon has partnered with local social impact and economic
justice organizations in each region—the Local Initiative Support
Corporation (LISC) in the Puget Sound region, Capital Impact
Partners in the Arlington region, and the Urban League of Middle
Tennessee in Nashville—to develop curriculums and networking
opportunities that reflect the specific issues facing their
communities. The accelerator program will initially support up to
30 total participants by providing:
- Virtual and in-person classroom instruction on real estate
fundamentals, affordable housing trends, public policy, and
financing best practices
- Small group mentoring
- Professional networking opportunities with industry leaders,
researchers, and established real estate developers
- Access to capital for pre-development expenses, such as
architectural and engineering costs; permitting, survey and
site-planning fees; and market and feasibility studies
“Developers of color bring enormous opportunity for creative and
inclusive solutions to community-focused real estate development,
but systemic issues continue to create multiple barriers to their
success,” said Ellis Carr, president and CEO of Capital Impact
Partners and CDC Small Business Finance. “Through this program, we
are partnering with Amazon in helping open doors for people of
color who can then pay their experience forward.”
“With Amazon’s support, our hope is to bridge the knowledge gap
and build a bench of developers of color who are trusted in their
communities,” said Brian Surratt, executive director of LISC Puget
Sound. “These developers are then likely to hire contractors and
other workers of color, some of whom may live in those same
neighborhoods.”
Participants in the program will be selected by each partner
organization and will be based on the following eligibility
guidelines:
- Identify as a person of color
- Work experience as a developer at a real estate development
firm or organization
- Real estate development activities focused in the Puget Sound
region, Arlington region, or Nashville
Concurrent to the accelerator program, Amazon is also partnering
with Enterprise Community Loan Fund, Inc. to administer grants of
up to $200,000 to qualified real estate developers of color. These
grants are open to anyone who applies to the Amazon Housing Equity
Fund and needs assistance with the capacity-building and
pre-development expenses associated with the preservation and
creation of affordable housing within Amazon’s three focus
regions.
The Amazon Housing Equity Fund is a more than $2 billion
commitment to create or preserve existing housing and create
inclusive housing developments through below-market loans and
grants to housing partners, traditional and non-traditional public
agencies, and minority-led organizations. Since its January launch,
the fund’s commitments will preserve or create over 5,600
affordable housing units, with more investments to come.
Learn more about the Amazon Housing Equity Fund as well as
opportunities with this accelerator program in Washington state’s
Puget Sound region, Northern Virginia or Nashville, Tennessee.
About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather
than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to
operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Amazon strives to
be Earth’s Most Customer-Centric Company, Earth’s Best Employer,
and Earth’s Safest Place to Work. Customer reviews, 1-Click
shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by
Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Career Choice, Fire
tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, Alexa, Just Walk Out technology,
Amazon Studios, and The Climate Pledge are some of the things
pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit amazon.com/about
and follow @AmazonNews.
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