Housing
RSSAlaska News covers housing policy, development projects, and affordability initiatives across Alaska communities, including zoning changes, federal funding.
Anchorage Assembly keeps a non-binding housing resolution moving
The Anchorage Assembly refused to delay a housing resolution that, by its own sponsor's account, does not require anyone at all to do anything.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago1 min read
Cordova weighs a model where you own the house but lease the land
You own the house and a trust owns the ground under it, and you pay $50 a month for the ground. Cordova is weighing whether that math works.
by Melinda Communities.News3w ago2 min read
Planners urged cutting the overlay's R-1 height break. The sponsors kept it.
Anchorage planning staff told the sponsors of a housing overlay to drop its special height rules for single-family zones. The sponsors kept them.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago3 min read
Anchorage would trade away land it bought five years ago for $2.35 million
Anchorage would trade away land it paid $2.35 million to buy in 2021, before its own study of the site is finished and over a state objection.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read
Anchorage will weigh housing density, not just price, when it sells land
The Anchorage Assembly voted 11-0 to tell the city to weigh housing density and affordability, not just price, when it disposes of municipal land.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read
North Slope Borough Assembly raises lot density to four homes in zoning code rewrite
North Slope Borough Assembly voted 9-0 to allow four homes per lot instead of two, aiming to address a shortage of 637 housing units across the region.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read
Alaska rent increases were the smallest in five years, but Mat-Su and Kenai set records
Alaska rents rose again this year, but the pressure shifted. Mat-Su and the Kenai set records while Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau saw their smallest rises.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago1 min read
Cook Inlet Housing Authority chief backs Anchorage housing code changes his projects use
Cook Inlet Housing Authority's chief backed Anchorage's housing code changes Tuesday, crediting them for enabling his organization's Nest project.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3w ago2 min read
Cook Inlet Housing Authority asks Anchorage Assembly to make design-standard pause permanent
Anchorage paused its multifamily design rules in 2025. A housing developer wants the pause made permanent; neighborhood councils want it narrowed inste
by Walter AlaskaNews4w ago2 min read
Abbott Loop rezone drew 223 notices and no comments; hearing is Oct. 6
Anchorage Assembly takes its first vote Tuesday on rezoning a 0.27-acre Abbott Loop lot to allow denser housing, shifting from five to eight dwelling units per acre.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Anchorage ordinance would drop 45-degree shelter trigger, raise site cap to 200
Anchorage would drop its automatic 45-degree shelter trigger, raise site limits to 200 and open rec centers, with one director deciding when shelter opens.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Anchorage developer says fire lanes cost his 58-unit project 15 homes
Fire lane requirements cost an Anchorage developer 15 potential homes. The city faces pressure to ease building rules to meet housing goals.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Petersburg hospital rejects shared-kitchen lease for traveling staff
Petersburg Medical Center dropped plans to lease shared housing for traveling staff after two assistants clashed over kitchen supplies, and is now exploring building its own duplexes on tundra land.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Anchorage officials pitch Assembly on Block 102-Tozier land swap for housing
Anchorage officials pitched a land swap to the Assembly Friday that could enable housing on two sites, but the vote covers only the exchange itself, not zoning or development deals.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Anchorage weighs selling city land for housing by units built, not just the highest bid
Anchorage would rank housing density and affordability over sale price when selling city land, prioritizing multifamily projects and permanently affordable housing over highest bidder.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Anchorage permits more housing than last year, but from a near-record low
Anchorage permitted more housing this year than in 2024 or 2025, the mayor says — but those were near-record lows, still far below its 1,000-a-year target.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Anchorage's proposed tax break caps at $497,000. New homes average $750,000.
A first-time buyer of a new Anchorage home could skip property tax for 10 years, if it sells under about $497,000. New builds average near $750,000.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 1mo ago2 min read
Juneau donors are giving the Legislature 16 more apartments for lawmakers
Juneau donors are giving the Alaska Legislature 16 more apartments for lawmakers to live in during session, in a capital where housing is scarce and costly.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 1mo ago2 min read
A state grant would keep TB screening running at Anchorage homeless shelters
A $2.77 million grant before the Anchorage Assembly would keep public health nurses screening for TB at shelters — the clearance many people need to get in.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
An Anchorage housing provider gets another year of federal help for disabled renters
Andrew Housing Co. in Anchorage received $132,800 from HUD to help house very-low-income renters with disabilities, part of a $184,392 total in federal housing awards posted this week.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Sitka may rewrite its rules for second homes on residential lots
Sitka's planning commission takes up a draft rewrite of its accessory dwelling unit rules Monday. The draft does not say which direction it goes.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Coast Guard awards $143.4 million for 30 housing units and child care center at Kodiak ahead of two Arctic cutters
The Coast Guard is spending $143.4 million on 30 housing units and a child care center at Base Kodiak, ahead of two Arctic Security Cutters homeporting there.
by Melinda Communities.News1mo ago1 min read
The state wants to give away land near Houston for housing, one piece of a statewide push
The state wants to give away 42 acres near Houston, free, for housing — one of several no-cost transfers to the Housing Finance Corporation across Alaska.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
HUD awards $85,520 to Anchorage disability housing provider
HUD awarded Anchorage disability housing provider AASC Housing II Inc. $85,520 to subsidize rent for very-low-income residents with disabilities.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
$1.54 million in federal rent aid for Kotzebue's four subsidized elder apartments
HUD awarded $1.54 million to Tupqich Elder Apartments in Kotzebue to cover operating costs for very-low-income seniors, who pay 30 percent of their income toward rent.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
A Sitka nonprofit seeks to bend the rules to build more housing
A Sitka housing nonprofit is asking the city to waive parking and allow smaller lots so it can fit more homes on a lot on Halibut Point Road.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Juneau gathers its senior-housing help into one guide
Juneau is pulling its senior-housing help — ADU grants, renovation grants, contractors — into one guide to help older residents stay in their homes.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Federal money can now put a homeless family in a motel room to keep a kid in school
Federal guidance now lets Alaska schools use homeless-education money for a motel room when no shelter's available — a last resort to keep a child in school.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Petersburg hospital board weighs buying housing to address staffing gaps
Petersburg Medical Center is exploring buying or building staff housing to fill nursing and technician jobs that now rely on expensive temporary workers.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Anchorage's camping ordinance produces plenty of compliance — but few people taking services, and homelessness still visible
Anchorage police contacted 1,085 people under the camping ban since August 2025, but only 72 accepted services, raising questions about enforcement paired with outreach.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Anchorage Assembly weights resolution would back JBER buildout as base housing nears full
Anchorage weighs committing to planning for a military buildup of up to 1,050 personnel, on a base whose family housing is already 98% full.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Alaska moves to open child care assistance to more working families
Alaska wants to raise the income ceiling for child care assistance from 85 to 105 percent of the state median, though it's contested whether the expansion needs new money.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
A Northwest think tank has ideas for Anchorage housing
A Seattle think tank that advocates for denser housing is recommending Anchorage zoning changes, one of which the city already adopted in 2025.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Alaska moves to hand four more land tracts to a housing agency, no bidding required
Alaska is proposing to transfer four more state land tracts to its housing agency without competitive bidding — part of an ongoing push to turn public land into housing development.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Anchorage Assembly weighs 10-year tax break for condos above shops and offices
Anchorage weighs a 10-year property-tax break for buyers of new condos above shops to spur housing, but critics ask whether the price cap lets it build much.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Anchorage may let buyers own a detached home outright where condos are now the norm
Anchorage may let buyers own detached houses outright in more residential zones — a change aimed at helping people dodge the financing hurdles of buying a condo. The Assembly decides.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Kenai weighs federal housing funds for Sixth Street water and sewer work
Kenai weighs using federal housing grant money to help fund water, sewer and street work on Sixth Street, with a public hearing and vote Wednesday.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
A year in, Anchorage's camping ordinance mostly moves people along, not into services
A year of Anchorage's camping ordinance: 89% of contacts end without arrest, but 890 of 962 people who complied left with no referral to services. The Assembly reviews it Tuesday.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Free daily meals and pantries available across Anchorage in August
A free hot meal is available somewhere in Anchorage every day this month, plus two dozen food pantries citywide. Call 211 or check anchoragefood.org for the schedule.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
The military is adding a thousand people to a base that's already full
The military plans to add about 1,050 people to Alaska bases while JBER housing sits at 98% full. Anchorage's Assembly is bracing for the overflow to hit the city's market.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
