Anchorage moves to sell an old Government Hill fire station to Chugach Electric

Anchorage would sell the old Fire Station No. 2 on Government Hill to Chugach Electric for $470,000, under an ordinance before the Assembly Tuesday. The sale would skip competitive bidding, which municipal code allows when the city negotiates directly with a buyer.

Chugach already leases the site through 2030 for a communications tower that anchors part of its network, carrying fiber to several substations and radio coverage for downtown field crews. The cooperative looked at moving the equipment elsewhere but found relocation more costly and risky than simply buying the building it's already using, as long as it can keep the tower running without triggering new land-use requirements.

The city has owned the lot at Hollywood Drive and Elm Street since 1952. The building went up in 1968 and stopped serving as a fire station in the late 1980s. Selling it, the municipality says, sheds maintenance and liability on a building it isn't using.

The $470,000 price came in $49,000 under a June valuation of $519,000. Real Estate Services called the lower offer acceptable given the building's age, condition, limited reuse and a possible hazardous-materials review. An agency review in March drew no objections, and the administration recommends approval.