Senate sends Anchorage Quyana Clubhouse land transfer to president

Southcentral Foundation is one signature away from owning the downtown Anchorage land under its Quyana Clubhouse. The U.S. Senate passed the Southcentral Foundation Land Transfer Act by unanimous consent Tuesday and sent it to the president.

The bill moves about 3.4 acres at 225 Eagle Street from the federal Department of Health and Human Services to the foundation. Ownership would let the foundation secure financing, replace its building, expand services and create jobs, according to a release from Alaska's congressional delegation. The Health and Human Services secretary would have two years after enactment to finish the transfer.

Quyana Clubhouse serves Alaska Native people with serious mental illness. Foundation testimony to a House subcommittee in June 2025 said the current buildings "are some of the oldest in the Indian Health Service inventory and were never intended to provide direct services to clients."

The clubhouse now operates from a single-story, 7,000-square-foot building. The foundation plans a replacement of about 44,178 square feet.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski made the motion to pass the House version of the bill. "This legislation will give Southcentral Foundation the tools to expand the facility and its services, including intensive outpatient programming, so it can continue meeting the needs of Alaska Native people for generations to come," Murkowski said.

Rep. Nick Begich introduced the bill in the U.S. House in May 2025. The House passed it by voice vote that December.

The Alaska Department of Health, the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, the Anchorage Fire Department, the Municipality of Anchorage and the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority sent letters of support.

The Indian Health Service, which would give up the land, objected. In February testimony to a Senate committee, Darrell LaRoche, the agency's deputy director for management operations, said the bill "does not guarantee health care services specifically for American Indians and Alaska Natives." It also bars the government from keeping a right to reclaim the land, which he said "deprives HHS of a means to ensure that the property will continue to be used for health care services." The foundation would pay nothing for the parcel.