Alaska moves to hand four more land tracts to a housing agency, no bidding required

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources is proposing to transfer four more state land tracts to the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation without competitive bidding, continuing a push to turn public land into housing development.

It's part of a pattern. AHFC closed on more than 600 acres statewide in September 2025, using $8.5 million in expiring federal funds to spur housing. The four new parcels include two near Ester in the Fairbanks North Star Borough — among them a roughly 220-acre tract in the Rosie Creek Subdivision — and two more near Seward and Anchor Point in the Kenai Peninsula Borough. All four proceed under a state law that allows land to be disposed of for public and charitable use rather than through a sealed-bid auction. The filings don't guarantee these specific tracts will actually be built out.

The Division of Mining, Land and Water issued the four notices July 29 and 30. Comments on the Ester parcels are due by 4:30 p.m. Sept. 1, and on the Seward and Anchor Point parcels by 4:30 p.m. Sept. 2. A fifth AHFC proposal, near the Cheri Lakes Subdivision, is open for comment until Aug. 31.