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ACDA briefs committee on Fireweed Flats pause, JCPenney garage plan and proposed housing accelerator fund
Summary
ACDA representative Robbins told the committee July 9 that Fireweed Flats RFPs are on hold pending an EPA determination, ACDA plans to pursue purchase and redevelopment of the JCPenney garage, and an Alaska Housing Accelerator Fund paired with local bank capital could lower construction costs for multifamily projects.
At the July 9 Community and Economic Development Committee meeting, ACDA representative Robbins updated members on a range of development projects and financing initiatives intended to expand workforce and missing‑middle housing in Anchorage.
Robbins said Fireweed Flats, a tax‑foreclosure parcel ACDA acquired and RFP'd for housing targeted at 80–120% of area median income, attracted 10 respondents but is paused while ACDA awaits an EPA determination expected the following week. "We issued an addendum on June 10 because we discovered additional environmental issues," Robbins said, and added that a positive EPA determination would let ACDA proceed with awarding an RFP and moving the project this year.
On downtown redevelopment, Robbins said ACDA is finalizing documents to present to its board next month to purchase the downtown JCPenney garage and begin redevelopment after demolition. "Our plan is to purchase ... complete the purchase of the garage, take it down, redevelop it," he said.
Financing and workforce housing programs: Robbins described an Anchorage workforce‑housing initiative to pair developers, investors and landowners and said ACDA is working with state partners on an Alaska Housing Accelerator Fund. He said local banks have committed capital that would "match ADA spending" and that the structure would lower construction loan costs and reduce equity requirements, including offering longer amortization on take‑out loans to improve project feasibility. Robbins also said ACDA contracted McKinley Research to update housing‑market studies and that a go/no‑go decision on the accelerator was expected in coming weeks.
Robbins addressed other assets and sites ACDA is pursuing—three new single‑family projects, lease activity, and potential transfers of state DNR parcels—that together form a broader pipeline of sites across downtown, midtown and east Anchorage for workforce housing.
Committee members asked for parameters of the demand study and for clarification of terms such as "workforce housing," and Robbins said the study will formalize demand from large workforce housing consumers and that ACDA distinguishes employer‑provided housing from income‑targeted multifamily projects.
