Housing

Anchorage Assembly weighs selling Westpark school site for housing

Anchorage may sell the 53.8-acre Westpark school site in Southwest Anchorage for housing and give the money to the school district.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Anchorage ordinance would raise transit-corridor density target from 8 to 36 homes per acre

An Assembly proposal would raise the housing density target along Anchorage transit corridors from 8 homes per acre to 36. Testimony is Tuesday.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Follows: Anchorage schedules Oct. 6 hearing on transit-corridor plan

Skagway votes Tuesday on $6.5 million in bonds to prepare its RV park for housing lots

Skagway voters decide Tuesday whether to borrow up to $6.5 million for water, sewer and roads to turn the Garden City RV Park into housing lots, at an estimated 30-year cost of $12.83 million.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readFrom Sep 30

Chugach Manor senior housing waiting list open in Anchorage; Chugach View list closed Sept. 17

Alaska Housing Finance Corporation closed the one-bedroom waiting list for Chugach View Senior Housing in Anchorage on Sept. 17, but the waiting list for Chugach Manor remains open.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readFrom Sep 23

Anchorage Assembly takes up Chugiak senior housing lease extension to 2094

A Chugiak senior group wants until 2094 on its city land lease to build about 60 affordable apartments. Without a change, the lease ends this month.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Kodiak council takes up $5.6 million in state loans for Aleutian Homes pipes

Kodiak City Council takes first reading Thursday on two ordinances to borrow $5.6 million in state funds for replacing 70-year-old water and sewer pipes in Aleutian Homes.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Cordova housing committee meets Tuesday as town works on shortage of at least 40 homes

Cordova is short at least 40 homes, and much of its vacant housing sits empty for canneries and summer. A housing committee meets Tuesday to keep at it.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Anchorage Assembly to consider $2.2 million more for surge beds at two homeless shelters

Anchorage may add about $2.2 million to two shelter contracts to cover extra winter beds at Linda's Place and the E. 56th Avenue shelter. Assembly votes Oct. 6.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Murkowski cosponsors bill letting housing builders use industry certifications to prove materials are US-made

Murkowski cosponsored a bill letting builders on federally funded housing use industry certifications to prove their materials are American-made.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Cook Inlet Tribal Council seeks builder for $36.5 million east Anchorage center

Cook Inlet Tribal Council opened bidding Wednesday on a $36.5 million east Anchorage cultural center with child care, gym, and showers, but has not disclosed its funding source.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Federal grant offers Native homeowners in Anchorage and Mat-Su a savings match and repair money

Native homeowners in Anchorage and Mat-Su who save $2,000 in a year could get an $8,000 match and up to $10,000 in repairs under a new grant program.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Juneau committee to review bid to list Telephone Hill as national historic district

A historical group wants Juneau's Telephone Hill named a national historic district. The city plans to tear down its seven homes for new housing.

by Alaska News1mo ago2 min read

Anchorage names police Lt. Brian Fuchs municipal Employee of the Year

Anchorage police Lt. Brian Fuchs won Employee of the Year for leading homeless outreach units that answered 3,300 crisis calls and cut unsheltered homelessness by nearly 30%.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Ketchikan Gateway Borough staff propose allowing housing on commercial waterfront land

Ketchikan Gateway Borough staff want to let housing onto commercial waterfront land and relabel seven parcels. The Planning Commission picks it back up Oct. 13.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Touchmark breaks ground on 244-home senior campus in South Anchorage

A private Oregon company broke ground on a 244-home senior campus in South Anchorage, with help from a city property tax break that can last up to 28 years.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Sitka planners favor 30 to 40 single-family lots near Sitka High School

Sitka planners like 30 to 40 single-family lots near Sitka High, with room saved for apartments or dorms later. Final findings are due by year's end.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Mar 1

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 AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Mar 11

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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Sep 9

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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo ago3 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 AlaskaNews1mo ago2 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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readFrom Sep 8

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 AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Follows: Anchorage's new-home tax break would reach pricier houses under a revision

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 AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Follows: Anchorage wants 10,000 homes. Its zoning fight is over where they can fit.

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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo ago1 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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo ago2 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 AlaskaNews1mo 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 AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read