Forest Mowed Down for new Arena

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A little over 14 acres of woods just east of Providence Hospital between the UAA and APU campuses was recently mowed down as prep work begins for the new UAA sports arena in east Anchorage. Surviving Governor Parnell's red pen last year, the project isn't without some controversy as the arena will surprisingly not have the ability to convert to a hockey rink for UAA Seawolf hockey -- arguably the most visible and prominent sport among UAA athletics. What it will have, however, is a seating capacity of 5,000 (pretty good, considering the Sullivan fits a little over 6,000), a separate gym for the gymnastics program, admin/coaching offices, as well as locker and team rooms for just about every sport found in UAA (again, except hockey). The building will be 196,000 square feet and will cost $109 million. Here's a video showing how the new arena is expected to look like.

Area that has been cleared.

Wind Turbines Arrive in Anchorage

The scene at the Port of Anchorage last weekend.

Several pieces of wind turbines arrived at the Port of Anchorage last weekend from Tianchang, China, and are being staged nearby until later in the year when they will be sent to Fire Island for the new wind farm being constructed by the CIRI native corporation. Construction should begin this summer and will be partly up and running by the end of the year. The wind farm will eventually be made up of 33 wind turbines and will provide 144,000 megawatts of juice each year for up to 17,000 households. Since CIRI isn't in the business of public utility, Chugach Electric will buy the power from them in order to provide it to the mainland via its underwater transmission lines.

 
 

Jerry Prevo Wants to Build the World's Tallest Cross in Anchorage

You read it right. Though the idea isn't serious right now, Pastor Jerry Prevo is currently seeking approval from the FAA to build a 230-foot tall cross on his property that would tower over east Anchorage and become purportedly the world's tallest cross. If built, the cross would be taller than all office buildings in midtown, with only the Anchorage Hilton, ConocoPhillips, and Atwood Building, all in downtown, being taller.

I personally have a hard time imagining such a structure surviving past planning and zoning reviews at its current height, especially as Prevo's Anchorage Baptist Temple sits in a residential area. A few years ago, residents in this same area were complaining loudly about the monster-sized power lines that now run up and down Northern Lights Boulevard toward Muldoon. Most Anchorage residents may be Christian (or not), but you don't want to feel their wrath when you propose a 230-foot pole -- Christian cross or not. Even much shorter cell phone towers spark controversy when they go up in Anchorage neighborhoods. But of course in Dan Coffey's Anchorage, this issue of zoning would be a non-issue, and thus the cross would pass the zoning board with flying colors (while skipping the public hearing, of course). 

Jerry Prevo says he hasn't even looked into whether such a project is feasible, but seeing as how he has plenty of money to throw into his bigoted, anti-LGBT "No On 5" campaign, I'm sure he'll find a way to allocate funding. Seriously, I thought the tale of Big Butter Jesus had already taught us what happens when you make giant tacky religious monuments for your god(s). Also, wasn't the worship of icons and monuments one of the reasons for the Protestant Reformation? All I can say is that I would be so embarrassed for Anchorage if this monstrosity of epic proportions goes up -- especially under the orders of a man like Jerry Prevo.

Anyways here's the article by Channel 2's Christine Kim:
Anchorage Baptist Temple Plans to Build 230-foot-tall Cross

Anchorage Highway to Highway Project Delayed

If you have followed the news lately, you might have heard a slew of reports about how the dubious Knik Arm Crossing is being fast tracked by the State of Alaska and the Anchorage transportation committee to be on the short list of prioritized projects, which may result in funds being gobbled up by the bridge at the expense of more pressing transportation needs for the city in the next couple of decades. Among the projects moved to the back burner is the Highway 2 Highway (H2H) project, which would have connected the Seward and Glenn highways together, making for a seamless glide through the city while at the same time restoring the neighborhood of Fairview back to its former glory, before two sets of four-lane roads with heavy traffic tore through the hood some 35 years ago. From what I've observed, the project was a bit controversial when it was first brought up, perhaps because it gave some residents a sense of déjà vu of a time in the 1950s and 60s when planners across the country promised that large concrete highways tearing through neighborhoods and struggling downtowns would be the solution to all of the city's problems. But I've long thought this project in particular was different. If anything, this H2H project would reflect the changes other cities across America have made to their urban highways in the last 20 years or so, which is to either dismantle them altogether, or bury them underground. H2H proposes the latter, which is to build the highway on sort of a ditch, or depressed ground, and then "cover" the highway with new real estate that would be used for either parkland or buildings. Anyways the Anchorage Press did an article this week on the predicament and what solutions may be possible to get the project started sooner. A snippet from the article:

"The project had been listed as a “top priority to contain Anchorage congestion” under the city’s current transportation plan. But in the Metropolitan Transportation Plan 2035, set to be adopted by the Anchorage Assembly in late April, the connecting corridor has turned from shortlist mega project to dream deferred. Now in the long-term list of transportation projects, it’s tentatively slated to begin anywhere from 2024 to 2045".

Be sure to check out the cool map too.

Loussac Place Construction Update

Just thought I'd stop by the future site of Loussac Place, going up between C and A streets, for some photo updates. As mentioned in an earlier post, Loussac Place will be a compact neighborhood of townhouses replacing its earlier incarnation known as Loussac Manor, which was built in the 1960s with 62 units for low-income families. The new Loussac Place will have nearly double the units at 120, with both low income and market-rate housing.

Again for comparison sake:

New Years Update

Happy New Years to all! I've been wanting to post this article from The Atlantic which covers the topic of how Tea Party members have been wreaking havoc at urban planning meetings across the country. I'm reminded of a similar case here in Anchorage in which the local Tea Party group, led by a talk radio personality, held a discussion late last year on how the new Title 21 codes would further suffocate their freedom or whatever. The scary part was that Dan Coffey was the guest who was in the position of defending the codes. You know you're city's building codes are in trouble when they are defended by... well, yeah.

Anyways, I also thought I'd post the latest from the newest project going up in midtown. Located on C Street near Walmart, this three-story office quickly rose up late in December, causing it to just miss my latest construction rundown. No tenants have been cited yet. [Update] Yes, we do know the tenants! The building will be occupied by both ReMax and Dynamic Properties. I suppose they will pay a location compliment to their next-door neighbor, Residential Mortgage, which is also in a three-story building located a stone's throw away.

More Construction Rundown

I guess I should be more thorough in scanning the town before I rush off to publish my list of new stuff going up for the season. Yep, I have a few straggelers that got away, but it's better late than never to post them here right? You'll notice that there's no snow in these pics -- that's because I took these just before we got absolutley pummeled and thrashed by the nearly record breaking snowfall in November. But that's okay. Afterall, construction projects are always multi-seasonal, so it's not as if any of these are completed by now. And yes, there are a couple other projects out there such as the construction of a new Alaska Industrial Hardware (AiH) store, a fire station expansion in Muldoon, and an Olive Garden, but those are not exciting. Plus anyways, anyone in the Lower 48 will tell you that if you want fine authentic Italian cuisine, Olive Garden is not the place to go. Anchorageites salivating over the thought of dining out at that restaurant will learn this in due time (unless they're a big fan of endless bread sticks). On to the rundown:

Anchorage Neighborhood Health Center - Midtown

The Anchorage Neighborhood Health Center is building a new 42,700 sq. ft. building that will house their clinic currently located in Fairview (at 15,900 sq. ft.) thus more than doubling its medical space. ANHC is a non-profit that takes in patients with no insurance along with Medicare recepients. Because of this non-profit status, the group has been seeking donations to complete the building (at least for the last $2 million). If we are to go by the rendering, the building should come out looking pretty nice design wise. Of course, if you hadn't noticed yet, buildings rarely come out as beautiful as they are depicted in the artist rendering; But I can only imagine that this building will get better as it can't get any worse than how it looks right now [see above image]... yikes.

Providence Generations Project - U-Med District

As stated before, Providence has been on a roll these last five years and there looks to be no sign of slowing down. It turns out it's this building and not the one mentioned in the previous rundown that will house the newborn intensive care unit and other related mother-baby services. The umm... "Generations Building"(?) will also host expanded room for cardiac surgery and other surgical operations (basically this is where you would go should you indulge in too much Olive Garden). If you know the location of this building, you'll know that this building is totally hidden away on a road I learned only recently actually exists. It was the red crane towering over the hospital that led me to this hidden project. Design wise, I can't complain. Providence easily has the best looking set of buildings of any major hospital in Anchorage. I can't speak for the Native Hospital as I've never been in it, but even the interiors of the Providence campus are kickin'.

Unknown Low-rise - Midtown

No sign was erected at the site of this project, so I'm pretty much left in the dark about this one. With the few intel I have, my hunch is that this four-story building will be for AlaskaUSA. It sits on the former location of the little building that once housed Pete's Sushi, and Red Robins before that, and a Mexican restaurant before that (which had really good fries). I'm glad to see the little restaurant building knocked down for it will further move that stretch of C Street toward being dominated by medium-density buildings, which will make for quite a dramatic view (at least by Anchorage standards) as you drive northbound into midtown on C Street. Just an interesting tidbit I thought I'd share: this is the third restaurant in Anchorage to be demolished to make way for a higher-density building within the last five years. Cat Fish Too (formerly Balto's) was of course flattened to make way for the 14-story 188 WNL, while The Last Frontier Restaurant, on Tudor Road, was demolished for a parking garage. [Update]: Yup, I can confirm 100% that this building will be for AlaskaUSA, with some space for lease.

Return of the Granny Flats

Ran into this article yesterday on how some cities across the country are now allowing for cottages to be built in the backyards of single family homes. Also known as "granny-flats" (or "carriage houses"), they were more common back in the early 20th century before modern zoning codes brought an end to them. Historically built to house in-laws or other extended family, they can also be rented out if you seek to supplement your income as a property owner. You can still see many surviving backyard cottages in numerous cities ranging from Denver, to New Orleans, to Philly. 

According to the article, Seattle is now one of the handful of places looking to revive them as the issue of accommodating a growing population within the urban boundary comes to the forefront. A snippet from the article: [...] "Like other mid-size cities that came of age in the first few decades of the 20th century, Seattle is made up largely of compact neighborhoods filled with single-family bungalows. Today, almost two-thirds of the city is zoned for single-family homes, so it’s harder for Seattle to accommodate its growing population -- the city swelled from 563,374 residents in 2000 to 608,660 last year -- without spreading farther and farther into the forests of the Pacific Northwest. That’s partly why the city saw backyard cottages as an attractive new alternative, a way to add affordable housing options without a wholesale redesign of the city’s signature neighborhoods." 

Sounds like an idea worth looking into, imo. Increasing density at a suburban level, while also allowing for a more diverse mixture of income levels and age demographics to settle in a neighborhood, are the natural consequences that would come from this. Of course there will always be certain neighborhoods that would absolutely balk at the prospect of *gasp* renters moving into their hood. They certainly wont be having any of this, but that doesn't mean they should be listened to. 

Designing for Density

Just saw an interesting article from The Atlantic: Cities on creating urban density that breaks the stereotypical negative views most Americans have toward density. Architect David Baker talks about the concept of "people per square mile", a measurement that runs consistent with the carbon footprint an individual is likely to have. What's particularly amusing to see in the images throughout the article however is the inclusion of a new neighborhood in Oakland that is strikingly similar to the new Loussac Place development going up between Midtown and Downtown Anchorage. Check it out for yourself.