Amazon announced that it will invest a total of $10.6 million to help build and renovate more than 130 affordable homes in partnership with the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency (MDHA), and support the social work of the local nonprofit CrossBridge.
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This commitment is part of the Amazon Housing Equity Fund, a more than $2 billion commitment to create and preserve 20,000 affordable homes for individuals and families earning moderate-to-low incomes in Nashville, Washington state’s Puget Sound region, and the Arlington, Virginia, region.
Amazon’s commitment to MDHA consists of a $7.1 million low-rate loan to support the construction of Cherry Oak Apartments, a mixed-income residential development featuring 96 apartments, including 53 affordable homes in the Cayce Place neighborhood in East Nashville. Cherry Oak Apartments will provide housing in proximity to high-quality transit, employment centers, and parks.
Families living in the affordable units at Cherry Oak Apartments will have guaranteed affordability at or below 80% of area medium income (AMI) for 99 years.
Additionally, Amazon is providing a $3.5 million grant to CrossBridge, a Nashville nonprofit that provides housing and supportive services to adults overcoming addiction.
The grant will support CrossBridge’s housing projects on Lindsley Avenue in the Rolling Hill Mill neighborhood. CrossBridge owns an entire city block, where the organization is completing a new 50-unit building and renovating an existing 24-unit building into a 34-unit building.
The grant will allow CrossBridge to complete its projects, operate at affordable rents, and expand services. CrossBridge will also provide tenants with mental health counseling, addiction support, workforce reentry support, and other services.
Supportive housing, which helps people with substance use disorders, is the most resource-intensive type of housing. The rents are extremely low and service requirements are high, making it necessary to provide long-term subsidies.
The 84 CrossBridge units this funding supports will add to the most difficult to finance stock of permanent supportive housing in Nashville. ■