Real Estate: CATHERINE BUELL

Amazon.com Inc.’s $2.5 billion-plus HQ2 in Arlington raised the stakes for affordable housing in Northern Virginia, and economic factors boosting residential prices everywhere have also affected the market. In 2021, the e-tail giant launched its $2 billion housing fund in Arlington, Nashville, Tennessee, and Washington state, areas where it has significant presences.

Buell, a former vice president of policy and programs for the Greater Washington Partnership, now leads Amazon’s fund, which has committed more than $1.2 billion to create or preserve 8,000 residences that are affordable to people earning between 30% and 80% of area median income in Virginia and Washington state. This year, the fund pledged money for homes in Tysons, and since January 2021, Amazon has committed $795 million in loans and grants for 4,400 residences in Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C.

A Spelman College alumna and Georgetown University law graduate, Buell calls herself a “bridge builder” who is “deeply moved by the ability to help people.”

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