In order to encourage affordable housing developments in the San Francisco Bay Area, Apple is launching a fund with an initial investment of $50 million in collaboration with the charitable arm of real estate giant Sobrato and two other California-based NGOs.
Apple said on Wednesday that the Bay Area Housing Innovation Fund is a component of its 2019 commitment to donate $2.5 billion to the development of affordable housing in California.
The computer industry’s expansion throughout the American West Coast, particularly in California, has resulted in a sharp rise in housing costs and a burden on locals.
Many IT professionals have relocated to other states or are thinking about doing so in order to work remotely, all the while calling for the tech sector to do action to address the housing problem.
The San Francisco Housing Accelerator Fund, Destination: Home, Sobrato Philanthropies, and Apple are collaborating to create the fund, which will provide targeted, advantageous loans to promote the building of affordable housing.
With the first four projects it supports in the broader San Francisco Bay Area, more than 400 new homes will be built in the next two years.
Over 60,000 Californians have benefited directly from Apple’s more than $1.6 billion in contributions to affordable housing projects in the state, including its most recent endeavor, the tech giant announced.
