Juneau assembly directs city-led public process for Auk Landing tidelands lease with Hoonah Totem

The Juneau Assembly on Jan. 20 directed staff to begin a City and Borough of Juneau (CBJ)–led public process to develop a tidelands lease with Hoonah Totem Corporation for the Auk Landing cruise-berth and uplands project, Mayor Beth Weldon moved and the assembly adopted the motion by unanimous consent.

The directive follows a staff presentation from Visitor Industry Director Alex Pierce and a project presentation from Susan Bell of Hoonah Totem Corporation and Sandy Weir of Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL). Pierce told the assembly she would present survey results and hold at least one public meeting, bring a draft lease and project design to a committee of the whole for public testimony, and then schedule a public hearing. "I would anticipate a... shorter process. Fewer meetings, but... a robust public discussion, which is really what I believe is important and needed right now," Pierce said.

Why it matters: The Auk Landing proposal would add a new cruise berth and uplands development at the site commonly called the subport, north of the bridge at Whittier and Egan drives. Proponents say the dock could reduce downtown vehicle and pedestrian congestion, provide shore-power capability to lower emissions, and create year-round cultural and visitor amenities; opponents and some assembly members pressed for more detail on navigability, traffic impacts, year‑round operations and utility electrification costs.

What was presented and discussed

Susan Bell, representing Hoonah Totem, described a multilevel uplands facility with a plaza, an indigenous knowledge and cultural center (in partnership with Sealaska Heritage Institute), retail and dining, underground parking and a floating dock. She said the design emphasizes pedestrian flow from the gangway into downtown and safe vehicle movements using the Whittier/Egan intersection. Bell said the project would include shore-power capability and that moving a ship from anchorage to a dock can reduce emissions "up to 40% ... just from that move alone." She said the conceptual design includes two underground parking levels with "93 vehicle spaces and 24 bus spaces."

Pierce said staff will preserve prior public input collected during the conditional use permit process and noted the Visitor Industry Task Force recommendations remain a key reference. Pierce described an "aggressive" project timeline aimed at taking a final lease to the assembly for public hearing in April, while stressing she was not asking the assembly to approve a lease that night.

Assembly members asked for specific clarifications. Mayor Weldon expressed concern about the seawalk and how plaza retail and outdoor dining interface with the Seawalk and underground parking, and asked the applicants to "please care for that." Assembly members asked about the navigability study, Coast Guard coordination, the potential for year‑round operations at the cultural center, the project’s construction timeline and the costs and lead time for shore‑power transformers.

Key clarifications and limitations discussed

- Navigability: Bell said CBJ has contracted PND Engineers with the Marine Exchange to complete a navigability study, required by the planning commission's conditional use permit (CUP). She said the study will address ship, buoy tender and floatplane traffic and will be shared with the assembly when complete.

- Year‑round use: Bell said Hoonah Totem intends to design the indigenous knowledge, science and cultural center to support year‑round programming and to partner with the Juneau School District, the University of Alaska Southeast and Sealaska programs to drive off‑season use, but acknowledged not every element on the site will necessarily be used year‑round.

- Housing: Bell said the developer explored housing but concluded it is not viable at the site because of high waterfront foundation and underground parking construction costs (she estimated uplands foundation and underground-parking construction costs on the waterfront near $1,000 per square foot), required piling depths, height-limit constraints and compatibility with adjacent secure Coast Guard facilities.

- Shore power/electrification: Bell and Pierce said the dock will be designed with shore‑power capability but that procuring and installing a sufficiently sized transformer and other distribution infrastructure could cost in the millions and have long lead times; Bell cited an estimate that a transformer for the site could be on the order of $2,000,000 and said working with the local utility (Alaska Electric Light and Power) will be required.

What the assembly decided

Assembly members voted by unanimous consent to adopt a motion, moved by Mayor Beth Weldon, directing staff to "initiate a CBJ-led public process incorporating the notes the visitor industry director presented tonight for a tidelands lease with Hoonah Totem Corporation." The motion did not approve a lease; it directed staff to proceed with public outreach, present survey results and bring a draft lease back to the assembly for further public testimony and deliberation.

Next steps and outstanding items

Pierce told the assembly staff will present survey results, hold public meetings (several assembly members requested at least two public meeting opportunities), bring a draft lease and project elements to a committee-of-the-whole meeting for public testimony, and then schedule a formal public hearing. The navigability and final traffic studies, the detailed engineering and final shore‑power cost estimates remain outstanding and were repeatedly identified by assembly members as prerequisites the assembly will want to review prior to lease approval.

Ending

CBJ staff and Hoonah Totem will proceed with the city‑led public process and return to the assembly with survey results, updated traffic and navigability studies and a draft tidelands lease. No lease or building permit decisions were made at the meeting.