Google Invests $50 Million in Housing Trust's TECH Fund

SAN JOSE, Calif., July 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Google is making a $50 million investment in Housing Trust Silicon Valley's TECH Fund. Google's investment is the largest investment in the fund to date. 

Housing Trust Silicon Valley launched the TECH (Tech + Equity + Community + Housing) Fund in March 2017 to provide affordable housing developers the flexible financing needed to compete for sites on the open market – a key barrier to building affordable housing. Google's investment will enable Housing Trust Silicon Valley to continue helping create and preserve affordable housing units across the Bay Area. This investment follows closely on Google's $1 billion commitment to invest in housing and the production of at least 20,000 homes in the Bay Area. It is the company's first investment from its $250 million affordable housing fund.

The investments in TECH Fund tend to be deployed quickly, which is a main reason why the initiative has already helped bring online 2,255 homes across 20 developments in Silicon Valley. This includes the purchase of land, construction of new homes, and preservation of existing homes for affordable housing that is close to job centers and transit options in San Jose, Mountain View, and other cities and towns in the region. 

Over half of the homes TECH Fund has helped secure are designated for families, a third for the homeless and/or permanent supportive housing, and one-in-five for seniors. Most homes are aimed at those earning 60 percent of the area median income or less.

"As part of our $1 billion housing commitment, we've been looking for ways to address the affordable housing crisis in the Bay Area," said Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google. "Housing Trust Silicon Valley provided us with the perfect opportunity to do that through their TECH Fund, which uses critical capital to break down barriers to building affordable housing. We are proud to be the fund's largest investor to date and look forward to working together to create housing for those who need it most."

"I welcome this announcement from the Housing Trust signaling forward momentum from Google about its commitment to help provide needed affordable housing options in our community," said Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, CA-19.

"Google's significant investment continues the momentum TECH Fund was designed to create," said Kevin Zwick, CEO of Housing Trust Silicon Valley. "Stepping forward in a way that makes a difference and inspiring your neighbor to step forward and do the same. Not only will Google's investment make a real impact, but it sends the intentional message that we're not done and we can all do more when it comes to affordable housing."

ABOUT HOUSING TRUST SILICON VALLEY
Housing Trust Silicon Valley (Housing Trust) is a nonprofit community loan fund based in San Jose that works to improve quality of life low-income people in the greater Bay Area by increasing affordable housing opportunities. Since 2000, Housing Trust has invested over $257 million in programs that help everyone from those experiencing homelessness to renters to first-time homebuyers - creating nearly 19,000 affordable housing opportunities serving over 34,000 of our neighbors. It is the first nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) to receive a Standard & Poor's rating, AA- because of its strong capacity to meet financial commitments. For more information visit www.housingtrustsv.org

ABOUT TECH FUND
TECH Fund (Tech + Equity + Community + Housing) is an initiative created by Housing Trust Silicon Valley to create opportunities for philanthropists and large Bay Area employers to provide resources to be part of the affordable housing solution. The fund began in March 2017 with an initial investment from the Cisco Foundation that has since been followed by investments from Google, Grove Foundation, LinkedIn, NetApp, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Pure Storage and Sobrato Family Foundation. Housing Trust to date has raised $112 million for the TECH Fund to be revolved over the course of a ten-year investment period – at the end of which TECH Fund investors receive a modest return on their investments in addition to the original investment being repaid and, most importantly, having created more than 10,000 affordable housing opportunities during that time. For more information visit www.housingtrustsv.org/tech-fund/

SOURCE Housing Trust Silicon Valley