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| A before and after of just some of the new buildings in Muldoon |
It's great to see higher density development coming along in Muldoon. Located in the southern half of the Creekside Town Center, five new apartment buildings were completed in the time that I've been gone. Creekview Plaza 49, made up of two buildings with 49 units total, is a mixed-use site with units limited to seniors. Creekview Plaza II, which sits next to Creekside Plaza 49, also contains retail space at the ground level (currently occupied by Northrim Bank) and is open to all ages. Lastly, two buildings making up Woven House lie to the south of the Creekview buildings. Woven House is also limited to senior housing. All five buildings are three stories high and sit alongside the busy Muldoon Road thoroughfare. Together with the new
Grass Creek North apartment buildings, it can only be expected that the residential population in the T-intersection of Muldoon Road and Debarr has substantially risen.
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| Creekview Plaza II - photo by Ken Graham |
Of course this was by design as the intersection of Muldoon and Debarr was designated as a key spot for a town center nearly 20 years ago. In the late 2000s the first housing units were built in what was then empty fields with a dying creek. In 2009 I did a bit of a tour of these housing units. But for a long time after that, there was no new residential construction. A Walgreen's store was built nearby, followed by a strip mall a decade after the first residential developments came into being. But now with the large amount of new residential units constructed suddenly in just five years time, the area seems better able to have residents and commercial business feed off each other.
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| Creekview 49 - photo by Ken Graham |
Yes, Creekside Town Center is unfortunately in a suburban car-centric landscape. But this setting was dictated by suburban commercial development that came decades before the urban concept of a town center came to Anchorage. It's simply difficult to retrofit big box stores into a more pedestrian-friendly environment. But what makes this place unique is that unlike most of Anchorage's sprawl, this area in question truly is seeing a mix of commercial and residential bumping up against each other. Residents in the new Creekview, Woven, and Grass Creek apartments have 10-15 minute access by foot to two large grocery stores, three banks, a pharmacy/mid-size grocery store, a gym, a library branch, and government services. Oh, of course we can't forget Anchorage's only Krispy Kreme. The dine-in options are quite interesting as residents in the area can walk to a Thai, Mongolian, and two sushi restaurants. There was once an Applebee's in the area, but it has since closed. But then again I'm not sure anyone misses that place.
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| New buildings that make up Grass Creek North |
