Juneau planners weigh smaller Áak'w Landing uplands after costs pass $250 million

The Juneau Planning Commission on Tuesday takes up Huna Totem Corp.'s request to shrink the shops, welcome center and bus lot planned beside its downtown cruise dock, after the project's estimated cost jumped from $150 million to more than $250 million.

Huna Totem, the Hoonah-based Alaska Native corporation behind Icy Strait Point, would cut the onshore part of Áak'w Landing from up to 50,000 square feet of retail and related space to about 31,000. Parking and tour bus loading would move from underground to a surface lot, according to the city's staff report, which recommends approval.

In a June memo, Huna Totem's Susan Bell cited a legal appeal that held up the project from August 2023 to June 2024, tariffs on steel and other materials, and geotechnical studies showing the larger buildings would need extensive 100-foot pilings. Alaska News first reported the smaller design in July.

The onshore area would take in 120,000 passengers who would otherwise get off ships in downtown's congested dock area, the staff report says. A traffic update found the smaller design would cut traffic 40% in the morning peak and 53% in the evening peak.

The only public comment came from Karla Hart, who appealed the 2023 permit. "Permitting this project with just 33 parking spaces is a recipe for trouble," she wrote. She also questioned whether the dock, approved separately in 2023 and not part of this request, would now let ships tie up on both sides, and asked where shore power equipment would go.

The dock's permit allows one large cruise ship a day and requires shore power within two years after a big enough power line reaches the site.

The hearing starts at 6 pm in the Assembly Chambers and on Zoom.