Cook Inlet Housing breaks ground on 24 senior apartments in Anchorage

Cook Inlet Housing Authority will begin construction this year on 24 affordable senior apartments in Anchorage's Airport Heights neighborhood, with completion scheduled for 2027, according to the Alaska Commission on Aging.

The project received funding through Housing Alaskans: A Public-Private Partnership, along with support from Wells Fargo Foundation, Northrim Bank, the Richard L. and Diane M. Block Foundation, and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines.

"CIHA's plan is to build 24 units of housing at that site in 2026, with more to be added later," Mayor Suzanne LaFrance said during a budget presentation.

Phase I is the first stage of a planned 72-unit senior housing campus. Later phases could face repeat conditional use permit costs and delays, according to Felix Rivera.

In 2023, 47 percent of senior renters in Alaska spent more than 35 percent of their income on housing, the highest burden among all groups, according to the Alaska Commission on Aging's 2025 Senior Snapshot. Alaska's population ages 60 and older increased 78 percent from 2010 to 2025, reaching 162,175 individuals. Anchorage had 61,115 residents age 60 and older in 2025.

Cook Inlet Housing Authority already operates senior housing in Anchorage, including Salamatof Heights in Centennial Village for seniors ages 62 and older or disabled, Chickaloon Landing in East Anchorage for seniors ages 55 and older, and Qevu Village in South Anchorage for persons ages 55 and older.