Here’s where the money Meta spent on its $1 billion pledge for affordable housing has gone

In nonprofit developer Allied Housing received million via a fund that Meta had set up as part of the device company s billion commitment to affordable housing made two years earlier The -unit affordable apartment building Allied planned half of the units reserved for formerly homeless renters was exactly the kind of project Facebook s parent company hoped its commitment would get off the ground Within a year Allied returned the money Not because the project collapsed Because the money wasn t a gift it was a loan as was the majority of the money that Meta has invested into housing A million loan fund for affordable housing called the Neighborhood Housing Fund is one of the only funding promises the company has kept as part of its announcement A Bay Area News Group assessment revealed that Meta has largely abandoned its billion housing pledge having spent just million six years in Executives cut the greater part funding to the housing initiative in late according to three people with knowledge of the company s decision-making who requested anonymity out of fear of professional repercussions That year Meta laid off the bulk of the band and shelved plans for a second million loan fund targeting middle-income housing That money along with another million in committed capital remains unspent Beyond the Group Housing Fund Meta did fulfill various other parts of its plan it gave out around million in grants and pledged million in land around its Menlo Park headquarters where it says housing will eventually be built But the company has yet to complete the necessary predevelopment work required to eventually go vertical and the city announced the company hasn t laid out a specific timeline for construction During the years the housing association was evolving it struggled to gain buy-in for the initiative with executives focused on the company s bottom line the sources explained Like several tech companies around Silicon Valley Meta lacks a corporate charitable arm As people inside the company were drafting a concept for the housing initiative to present to Meta s board they had to consider means to invest in housing that also wouldn t significantly drain the company s balance sheet The vast majority of the pledge therefore took the form of low-interest loans The Society Housing Fund was the first and only of Meta s loan funds to get off the ground It gave out loans of up to million at a interest rate much lower than other loans to projects with at least of their units reserved for extremely low-income tenants according to the fund s description This fund was unique in that it financed developers early on in the process to help pay for site acquisitions and architectural drawings a stage when the advance has a high hazard of not panning out which is why traditional banks don t get involved until later The housing initiative organization considered this a win-win Developers got cheap money to get their housing projects off the ground Meta could get their money back in one to eight years with a small return It was a resounding success announced Ray Bramson chief operating officer of Destination Home a San Jose nonprofit aimed at ending homelessness which partnered with Meta on the fund The Parkmoor Hub with affordable apartments is underway in San Jose Courtesy of Abode Housing Progress Toolbox Video Services But the undertaking was meant to go even further When the Neighborhood Housing Fund was launched Meta had intended to keep the money recirculating so that money repaid would be funneled into new projects according to three people familiar with the Locality Housing Fund who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared professional repercussions But those people say that Meta decided that once the original million is spent that money will not replenish the fund but return to the company Meta has previously reported that it is an developing partner in addressing the region s housing shortage and that it will continue to update stakeholders as it makes progress on its decades-long commitment So far the Population Housing Fund is nearly spent through According to Meta the loans have supported projects in the five core Bay Area counties helping to get over units entitled with nearly half dedicated to those making less than of the area median income or for a single person in Santa Clara County Related Articles Blighted San Jose site where -plus homes are eyed goes up for sale for million State Farm seeks to boost California home insurance rate hike to Meta promised billion for affordable housing Then it quietly walked away A Silicon Valley senator is proposing to insure multifamily enhancement loans Could it help spur more construction San Mateo County s largest affordable housing advancement opens The vast majority of projects funded were in Santa Clara County where voters had authorized a million bond for affordable housing in which meant developers could pair Meta s funding with constituents funds to get projects fully financed Meanwhile minimal projects were pursued in Contra Costa County which doesn t have any ongoing funding source for affordable housing and San Mateo County where the high land costs make it even more complex for affordable projects to pencil out financially So far though numerous of those projects have been stalled and only a handful have opened to renters