2030 Finance | November 5, 2019

Apple pledges $2.5 billion to five Bay Area housing initiatives

Jessica Pothering
ImpactAlpha Editor

Jessica Pothering

ImpactAlpha, November 5 – The gap between the haves and have-nots is widening in the Bay Area, brought on by an influx of talent, education and wealth chasing lucrative tech opportunities. More than half of low-income households now live in areas grappling with gentrification and displacement. Meanwhile new, affordable housing isn’t going up fast enough.

In a nod to its contribution to the problem, Apple is committing $2.3 billion to the state of California to finance a state-led affordable housing fund; a first-time home buyers mortgage assistance fund; and development of affordable housing on Apple-owned land.

The capital will be deployed over the next two years, a company statement says. Apple will earn a return on its investments; it will recycle the profits into future housing projects over the next five years.

Apple is also pledging $150 million to a housing fund it will run in partnership with Housing Trust Silicon Valley and making a $50 million donation to homelessness prevention.

The tech giant’s announcement follows a similar gesture from Facebook, which pledged $1 billion for Bay Area affordable housing in October. (Alphabet’s Google similarly pledged $1 billion.)

Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife have also made affordable and workforce housing commitments through their mission-driven organization, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Those include $40 million in early funding to the Partnership for the Bay’s Future and a $5 million investment in Landed to help teachers make a down payment on a home.