Amazon Is Building a Homeless Shelter in Seattle

In the heart of downtown Seattle, just across the street from the Amazon Spheres (three spherical conservatories that are part of Amazon’s campus), a new state-of-the-art homeless shelter is almost complete. Its name is “Mary’s Place Family Center in The Regrade”; the plans are for it to fill eight floors and open in early 2020. The center is expected to be the largest family shelter in Washington State. But the facility stands apart from other shelters for another, more surprising reason. It is being built in an Amazon corporate building and funded by the tech giant.

The shelter is nearing completion at a critical time for both Seattle and Amazon. For years, city leaders have struggled with finding large-scale solutions to the homelessness crisis, and more immediately, with offering enough emergency and transitional shelter each night for everyone who needs it.