E Street project goes into deep freeze

The Muni, through its website Destination Downtown, is reporting that the E Street Corridor Project is on hold. Thankfully, unlike the recent halting of projects around the country such as a major skyscraper project in Chicago (or for a more local level, the cancellation of Costco in Wasilla), the E Street project is NOT being canceled due to the economy or poor planning. As any Alaskan would know, "it's the snow, stupid". Construction shall resume in the Spring. Meanwhile here's some pics I took on how the project is shaping up so far with three personal observations that pop out to me:

First off, it appears the corridor will be losing the specially designed green light poles. The unique poles looked awesome when I was a young child, but just the other day I was thinking about how they have aged with their 80s look and that they should be replaced with traditional poles to integrate Downtown with the rest of the city. Next thing I know, I drive by 5th and E a few days later and see what appears to be the installation of new poles (stumps for now).


Perspective really helps in understanding just what is going down and I can't think of anything better to prove that than this shot of the new street curb placed further away from its original location. It looks like the new sidewalk will take up what was formally metered parking along with the right lane of old E Street.


Last, the intersection of 6th and E looks to be complete. Unlike the blueprints however, I don't see the darker colored bricks that were to be placed so as to appear pointing towards Town Square. Another thing worthy of mentioning is that the crosswalks are not just painted onto the bricks. They're actual slabs of concrete which I suppose makes sense considering the uneven brick surface that the intersections of 6th & E and 5th & E now present.

By the way for those interested to learn more about the specific project I was referring to in Chicago, check it out here.

Seattle shying away from daring architecture?

No, this is not me being lazy to post original updates. I swear! I've been meaning to post this interesting op-ed piece published recently in the Seattle P.I. that has to do with whether Seattle's modern architecture is running too conservative for an otherwise emerging international city. While I try to stay away from the carnage of harsh criticism, critic Lawrence W. Cheek is apparently more than happy to tackle whatever building design has gotten in his bonnet.

On one building in Seattle, Cheek writes:

"Lake Union Center on the ship canal waterfront, exudes all the panache of a Baptist Sunday School annex".

Ouch. Anyways, the rest of the article is here.

Denali Project leases space in 188 Northern Lights

If you opened your Sunday edition of the Anchorage Daily News, you may have seen an ad from the Denali Project in which they proudly announce their permanent home for its Anchorage headquarters -- 188 West Northern Lights in midtown. That's right, the building that since its summer completion has sat disturbingly empty is finally getting its first tenant! To backtrack, earlier this year during Sarah Palin's AGIA bidding, BP and ConocoPhillips created a joint venture known as the Denali Project which was their own pitch for the governor to compete with TransCanada and the very few other bidders for AGIA. During the conference announcing the venture, the people at Denali announced an Anchorage headquarters as one of the numerous incentives that Alaska would get with this Denali Project. One has to wonder though, what was plan B? headquarter in Sitka? Of course they'll headquarter in Anchorage! Anyways the company is leasing 40,000 square feet which according to Petroleum News will be just enough for some 175 employees. Agreements on leasing were made in late October. While it's great to see such a deserving building receive a tenant, there's also some irony as well considering who the tenant is. In 2006, the Alaska Journal of Commerce reported on some skepticism and concern about both the then infant JL Tower and 188 WNL possibly relying too much on the prospects of a natural gas line for an economic boom to fill their towers lease space. Overall, it's going to be great to see 188 WNL finally have some of its interior lights on at night. You can watch that happen with this live view of the tower.

Glenn Square shaping up

After doing a write-up on the Tikahtnu Commons retail development in Muldoon, I figured I'd at least give some exposure to its rival down the road, Glenn Square. To catch up on the basics, Glenn Square came to be after a Seattle/Dallas based company bought the land from the Municipality in a joint effort with the city to continue the Mountain View revitalization as well as provide retail to what has been a part of town underserved by retail (at least big box chain retail). Glenn Square occupies 25 acres of land that was formally home to a junkyard (my dad's junkyard) and a landfill. Unlike Tikahtnu, Glenn Square is billed as a mixed-use project that will incorporate office space into floors above some of the retail space. So far the city's electric utility branch ML&P has already signed for the future space. Unlike your traditional high density mixed use development however, Glenn Square is more of the same type of development seen in Anchorage for the last 40 years as the development flies in the face of some of the most basic principles listed in the Title 21 Rewrite. That would include the developments failure to put parking in the rear or side of the building along with failing to have businesses facing the street rather than a parking lot. The People Mover does have a bus stop at the site though. But overall, I'd have to say Glenn Square missed its target of enriching East Anchorage and Mountain View and will add little if any benefit to the community. Though Mayor Mark Begich has been a great motivator in truly mixed-use projects (including proposing a 10-story tower himself in 2005) for the city, his blessing of Glenn Square along with the Tikhatnu Commons were a mistake.

Links:
Glenn Square blueprint (PDF file). Note that the blueprint itself is a bit dated as it's missing the clock tower while presuming Best Buy as a tenant (Best Buy later opted out for Tikahtnu).

A couple more visuals courtesy of Irwin Development.

Highway to Highway Project public input continues

Channel 2 just did a brief story on the DOT's planned Highway to Highway Project connecting the Seward and the Glenn. There's really no new information offered in this report, rather Channel 2 interviews the project manager for the Highway to Highway about what is being done as well interviewing a former transportation commissioner for the city who of course among many others has concerns about the projects potential negative impacts.

Watch the video

Also of interest:
Anchorage Citizens Coalition on the H2H Project

Official H2H Project website

Project in Profile: VA Clinic and Regional Office

The Department of Veterans Affairs is overseeing construction of a new building that will house a clinic for outpatient service along with regional offices. The site is across the street from the new Tikahtnu Commons right before the Fort Richardson gates. Sorry about the poor quality of the second picture, but god was it bitterly cold that morning. I had to snap a picture while driving just to stay warm and cozy in my little car. Anyways as you can see, it's going to be a huge place:

New People Mover buses roll out

The Alaska Journal of Commerce is reporting on its weekly paper today that the Anchorage People Mover now has 18 new buses on city streets. I personally don't know the make of the current buses, but the new ones are from New Flyer. A look at their website reveals some interesting sleek designs, but I also see some that look exactly like our current regular and DART buses. I guess I'll have to wait and see if any unusual looking People Mover rolls by in the coming days. Either that, or the new buses will be exactly identical to the ones in use since the 90's (hopefully not!). From the Alaska Journal article:

"Each 2008 New Flyer bus is equipped with automatic vehicle locators, passenger counters and computer-aided dispatching. Additional features include larger bike racks to hold three bicycles and a video camera system to enhance passenger safety and security".

Extra: Want to ride the People Mover, but don't know the schedule or map? Click Route Generator

As for the old buses, what will happen to them? Maybe they'll join this flickr pool.

New science building at UAA

The ConocoPhillips Integrated Science Building on the campus of UAA is finally nearing the completion of its exterior facade. Construction for the building broke ground in 2007 and is expected to be open in time for the fall semester of 2009. At 120,000 square feet, the building will house departments focused on chemistry, astronomy, geology, environmental science, physics, and a few other disciplines under one roof. A parking garage to accommodate the building will be built in the rear with spaces for over 400 vehicles. Now for those wondering, the new building will NOT be part of the campus "spine"-- the network of buildings connected via skybridge walkways. Yes, that's right; If you're planning to major in bio-chemistry or physics next fall, be sure to wear a thick coat come winter. The Nothern Light (the school's paper) is also reporting that the parking garage will be far from the new building and will therefore offer shuttle rides to and from the ISB from the garage entrance. Besides the Integrated Science Building, UAA recently held a ceremony for the ground breaking of its new Health Sciences Building which will be built across the street from campus next to Providence Hospital. Interestingly enough, this building will have a skybridge attached to it so that it can be accessible from the main campus without students and staff having to step outside. It'll be pretty cool to see a skybridge hanging over the busy Providence Drive. Now to make things clear, I personally don't like the idea of skybridges when it comes to crowded urban areas. I'm against the idea that has been floating around for the last few years of connecting the new Dena'ina Center to the Performing Arts Center via City Hall. Don't like it, don't want it. It takes away potential foot traffic from the street while disfiguring the architectural sovereignty of each building with the connection of a non-conforming bridge. Most importantly, in a crowded area such as Downtown, destinations are much closer. The campus of UAA on the other hand is a relatively low density area in which buildings are surrounded by acres of surface parking. With its extremely tight availability of available parking near the building along with the bitter winter temperatures early in the year, it can make for a living hell when doing the walk to and from your car. Now I understand the skybridges wont fix this particular problem, but UAA has got to realize when doing its longterm planning that it has to start doing infill construction. Until then, skybridges will remain a solution for at least part of the low density problem. My $0.02. Anyways here's a vid from UAA on the new ConocoPhillips building:

ADN editorial on Anchorage's new Title 21 codes

The staff at the Anchorage Daily News just recently published an editorial in which the newspaper takes the side of city planners and looks forward to the implementations of the Title 21 Rewrite which is in the homestretch of having its remaining sections approved by the Anchorage Assembly. For those still not in the know, Title 21, which covers zoning and planning, was ordered by the Anchorage 2020 Comprehensive Plan to be rewritten after decades of no alterations so as to address the need for alternative transportation, traffic calming, and having more sustainable use of land for the increasingly shrinking amount of available land in the Anchorage Bowl. Changes included in the rewrite of Title 21 range from small things such as having commercial properties with entrances accessible from the sidewalk, to designating Downtown and Midtown as hubs for which commercial and residential should be intermixed to give people greater freedom from having to rely on their car to make their errands or go to work. By the way, I'll always be sure update the joop and let readers know in advance whenever a public Title 21 Rewrite meeting is taking place later in the week. Meanwhile, check out the editorial:

ADN editorial on Title 21