Housing
RSSAlaska News covers housing policy, development projects, and affordability initiatives across Alaska communities, including zoning changes, federal funding.
Juneau and Anchorage youth shelters get $650,000 in federal grants for runaway and homeless youth
Youth shelters in Juneau and Anchorage are getting $650,000 in new federal grants to give runaway and homeless kids a safe place to stay and help getting home.
by Maggie AlaskaNews7h ago2 min read
Report says 37% of Alaska households couldn't cover basic costs, with rural areas hit hardest
By one group's measure, 37% of Alaska households couldn't cover basic costs in 2024, and a two-income family with two small kids came up nearly $12,000 short.
by Walter AlaskaNews9h ago3 min read
Petersburg Medical Center weighs $10 million apartment building to house its staff
Petersburg Medical Center needs somewhere for its staff to live. A 20-unit apartment building would do it, at about $500,000 a unit. The board is thinking.
by Walter AlaskaNews16h ago2 min read
Kenai Peninsula two-bedroom rents post record 11% jump in state survey
Kenai Peninsula two-bedroom rent jumped 11% this spring to $1,336, a borough record. Most of Alaska saw closer to 2.6%, and only Mat-Su rose faster.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 23h ago2 min read
Juneau two-bedroom rents rise 2.8%, but one-bedroom rents climb faster
Juneau's typical two-bedroom rent rose just 2.8% this spring, to $1,708. One-bedrooms were another story, up about 13% in the state's survey.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 1d ago2 min read
HUD raises upfront fee on Section 184 home loans for Native borrowers starting Oct. 1
Native American and Alaska Native families using HUD's Section 184 home loans pay a 1.5% upfront fee starting Oct. 1, up from 1%. That's $1,500 on $300,000.
by Walter AlaskaNews2d ago2 min read
State puts $4.2 million toward housing for teachers and other professionals in rural Alaska
Rural Alaska keeps losing teachers to a lack of decent housing. The state has $4.2 million to build more, for communities that signed up by August.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3d ago3 min read
Three Alaska tribal housing groups win $15.7 million in federal grants for 58 homes
Three Alaska tribal housing groups won $15.7 million in HUD's latest competitive round, enough for 58 homes in Haines, Galena and Anchorage.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3d ago2 min read
Kenai voters decide Nov. 3 whether to ratify a $75,000 home tax exemption
Kenai voters will decide Nov. 3 whether to exempt the first $75,000 of home value from city property taxes, saving qualifying homeowners up to $326 a year.
by Walter AlaskaNews4d ago1 min read
Anchorage proposes trading the Tozier Track to the state housing agency for downtown parking lots, with housing required
Anchorage wants to trade the old dog track where the first Iditarod started for downtown parking lots. No bidding needed, and a neighbor objects.
by Walter AlaskaNews4d ago3 min read
Denali Borough needs 150 more housing opportunities, assessment says
Denali Borough counts 1,301 homes and only 565 are lived in year-round. Employers say they still need at least 150 more units on top of that.
by Walter AlaskaNews5d ago2 min read
Nome utility board member says new housing project's septic units will need heavy upkeep
New Nome housing will run on above-ground septic units with grinders, pumps and UV lights. A utility board member says they will need a lot of babysitting.
by Bill AlaskaNews5d ago2 min read
Senate Indian Affairs Committee advances Native housing rewrite to full Senate
A Senate committee advanced a rewrite of the law funding village housing. It would let aid reach teachers and nurses who earn too much to qualify now.
by Maggie AlaskaNews5d ago2 min read
Sitka would make second houses easier to build in some zones and ban them in others
Sitka wants second small houses easier to build in some neighborhoods and off limits in others. Shotgun Alley asked for one and was told to wait.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago3 min read
Anchorage schedules Oct. 6 hearing on transit-corridor plan
Anchorage will hear testimony Oct. 6 on plan amendments calling for 25 to 36 homes per acre in designated transit corridors.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
Sitka Assembly favors a half-point summer sales tax for child care, with no vote taken
Sitka's Assembly favored a half-point summer sales tax for child care on Sept. 8.. Staff estimate it would raise about $1.19 million a year against a $1 million package.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 1w ago1 min read
Anchorage Assembly shelves mayor's homebuyer tax break 11-1
Anchorage Assembly indefinitely postponed a 10-year property-tax exemption for first-time buyers of newly built homes on an 11-1 vote, with members questioning the proposal's target and who would benefit.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Anchorage housing overlay hearing carries to Oct. 6 after divided testimony
Anchorage heard nearly 90 minutes of divided housing testimony, then ran out of time. The 30,000-parcel overlay returns Oct. 6
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Bethel council to vote Sept. 22 on paying utilities for Atsaq Place supportive housing
Bethel City Council votes Sept. 22 on paying water, sewer and waste utilities for Atsaq Place supportive housing, a 24-unit shelter for people experiencing homelessness.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Alaska towns can build housing with this grant now, up to a point
Alaska communities can finally use block grant money to build housing. The most any one of them could put toward construction is about $170,000.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
Anchorage police launch phased pre-arrest deflection pilot Sept. 23
Anchorage's deflection pilot begins Sept. 23. Police make the referral, True North handles navigation and community providers deliver treatment.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Childcare center at downtown Anchorage church set to open Oct. 1 with municipal funding
Alaska's first worker-run childcare center opens in downtown Anchorage next month, with room for 82 kids and $200,000 in marijuana tax money behind it.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
Housing on the Tozier Tract would likely close off a planned road
Opening a Tudor Road parcel to housing would probably kill a road connection the city has planned for years. The state planner said so and did not object.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Senate panel will take up Native housing bill co-sponsored by both Alaska senators
The law that funds housing in Alaska Native villages is up for renewal. Overcrowding there runs about double the rate on tribal lands nationally.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Anchorage's new-home tax break would reach pricier houses under a revision
Anchorage's proposed tax break for first-time buyers of new homes would reach pricier houses under a revised version up Tuesday, ending a cutoff at the average.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Anchorage can build housing with this grant now. Residents asked for teardowns
Congress just let Anchorage spend block grant money on new housing for the first time in 50 years. The residents who showed up asked for demolitions.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Kodiak staff urge keeping Beaver Lake land as the borough hunts for housing sites
Kodiak's manager wants to open Beaver Lake land to housing. The borough's own planning staff say keep it — and the commission said no in 2019.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
18 condo units draw 46 percent of Anchorage's housing tax exemptions, report says
Eighteen single condominium units took 46 percent of Anchorage's housing tax exemptions this year, qualifying for a four-or-more-unit incentive through common ownership of one parent parcel.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Anchorage wants 10,000 homes. Its zoning fight is over where they can fit.
Anchorage wants 10,000 homes in 10 years. Tuesday's zoning fight is over where they can go — because adding homes means letting familiar blocks change.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago7 min read
Housing projects can compete for Alaska CDBG grants, with applications due Dec. 4
Alaska's Community Development Block Grant applications are due Friday, Dec. 4, with about $2.5 million available and a maximum of $850,000 per community. Any Alaska municipal government except Anchorage may apply.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Anchorage weighs $2.8M state payment, most of it for winter shelter
Anchorage cut $1 million in contracted surge shelter beds when alcohol tax revenue fell short. State money would put them back ahead of winter.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2w ago2 min read
Anchorage weighs who decides when cold-weather shelter opens
An Anchorage ordinance up Sept. 15 would let the health director decide when emergency shelter opens, replacing the current 45-degree trigger.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Anchorage could shrink its minimum lot size by two-thirds under a pending ordinance
Anchorage could cut its minimum single-family lot to a third of current size and let buildings cover 70 percent of it. The hearing is Sept. 15.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Anchorage wants city land sales weighed by housing, not price alone
Anchorage land sales now come with a written case for the housing they produce. The guidance is nonbinding, but it changes what the Assembly weighs.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2w ago1 min read
A state windfall would restore shelter capacity Anchorage cut this year
Anchorage cut $1 million in shelter surge capacity when alcohol-tax revenue fell short. An unexpected state payment would let the city restore it.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2w ago1 min read
Sitka's search for housing land narrows to two small parcels
Sitka's search for city land to build housing on has narrowed to two small parcels — the sites with the most room to build are the hardest to develop.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3w ago3 min read
Federal grant will test a Yup'ik healing framework against homelessness
Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness won $450,000 to serve Alaska Native households facing homelessness through case management and traditional Yup'ik healing practices through August 2027.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read
Juneau grants pay up to $13,500 to add a second unit, and a contractor list is coming
Juneau is offering homeowners up to $13,500 grants to build accessory dwelling units, with 16 awards available annually.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago1 min read
Sitka's Assembly takes up how to pay for child care
Sitka's Assembly takes up a possible child care funding source Tuesday. A survey found most parents struggle to find care and employers are feeling it too.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago1 min read
A fourplex would install no landscaping under this Anchorage ordinance
A builder putting four homes on an Anchorage lot would install no landscaped buffer under an ordinance up for public hearing Oct. 6.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read
