A Microsoft sign is seen during the China International Import Expo (CIIE), at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai, China November 5, 2018. REUTERS/Aly Song
Microsoft on Wednesday pledged $500 million for loans and grants aimed at ramping up construction of affordable housing in the Puget Sound area of Washington state where the US technology giant has its home.
“In recent years, our region hasn’t built enough housing for the people who live here,” Microsoft executives Amy Hood and Brad Smith said in a blog post.
“We are committing $500 million as a company to advance affordable housing solutions.”
Microsoft was only a few years old when it moved from New Mexico to the Seattle area city of Bellevue in 1979, and now has its headquarters in nearby Redmond.
Since 2011, job growth in the region has been 21 percent while housing construction growth has trailed at 13 percent.
A gap in available housing has caused housing prices to nearly double in the…
