Assembly considers 15-to-20-year property-tax abatement to spur multifamily rental construction

Anchorage Assembly members and administration staff used a June work session to review an administration-sponsored ordinance that would offer property-tax abatements for newly built or qualifying rehabilitated rental buildings of eight or more units, with a baseline abatement and additional bonus years for identified policy priorities.

The measure is intended to close a documented “feasibility gap” that has limited new multifamily construction in Anchorage. Nolan Clowda of the mayor’s office said the city needs more housing and that the abatement is a tool to make larger multifamily projects “pencil.” Clowda cited an Agnew Beck analysis showing Anchorage needs roughly 9,600–10,000 new or renovated units over the next 10 years and told the Assembly the current tax incentives “are not producing enough of a result.”

Why it matters: Anchorage has seen very little multifamily development without public subsidies. Clowda said that between 2022–2024 only 356 multifamily units (four or more) were built citywide, and just 203 units in projects of eight or more — with 55 of those supported by federal funding and 48 supported by a prior downtown tax incentive. The proposed abatement aims to reduce the per‑unit development gap that developers cite as the reason projects do not move forward.

Key provisions discussed

- Eligibility and baseline: The draft ordinance would apply citywide to rental buildings of eight or more units. The administration’s initial draft sets a baseline abatement at 15 years but sponsors said they plan an S-version that would raise the baseline to 20 years because 15 years may not sufficiently close the feasibility gap. The ordinance would apply to the residential portion of a mixed-use project, not to the land itself.

- Rental requirement…