ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — The apartment building that serves as the namesake for the Crystal City neighborhood in Virginia where Amazon is building a second quarters has been purchased by an affordable-housing organization.
The purchase of the 825-unit Crystal House by the Washington Housing Conservancy was financed through low-interest loans and grants provided by Amazon’s Housing Equity Fund.
The Washington Post reports that Amazon has announced similar initiative is Washington state and Nashville, where it also has a large presence.
Amazon is bringing tens of thousands of high-paying jobs to Crystal City, outside the nation’s capital, but critics have noted that the job growth also inflates housing costs.
Rent for 75 percent of the Crystal House units will drop to help residents making less than 80 percent of the area’s mean income of $126,000. Existing residents will not be displaced.
Crystal House, which featured a large crystal chandelier, was built in the early 1960s as the neighborhood underwent a planned redevelopment and the Crystal City name took hold.
The neighborhood was rebranded as “National Landing” to incorporate the adjacent Pentagon City and Potomac Yard neighborhoods as part of the effort to recruit Amazon to the region.
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