Amazon, Now Worth 2 Walmarts, Is Donating Half of Its New Building to a Homeless Shelter The shelter will open in 2020.
By Nina Zipkin
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This week marks Amazon's 20th anniversary as a public company, and the ecommerce giant has something to celebrate.
Before the market opened on Monday, Amazon was valued at $459 billion, which meant that is was worth as much as two Walmarts. Before the trading day began, Walmart's market capitalization was $228 billion.
Given its position as one of the world's most valuable brands, the retailer is in a position to give back. Amazon is currently building new office space in downtown Seattle, and it recently announced that one of its permanent neighbors will be a homeless shelter called Mary's Place.
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Last year, Amazon partnered with the nonprofit when it housed 200 people in one of the empty buildings on its existing campus.
Half of the new building will go towards housing the shelter and is on track to open in 2020. It will be 47,000 square feet and contain 65 private rooms for roughly 220 people.
In a statement, Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos said, "Mary's Place does incredible, life-saving work every day for women, children, and families experiencing homelessness in the Seattle community. We are lucky to count them as neighbors and thrilled to offer them a permanent home within our downtown Seattle headquarters."
