Cook Inlet Housing Authority recently demolished a dilapidated duplex, located in Anchorage’s older Mountain View subdivision, which had been previously condemned by the Municipality of Anchorage. The property was purchased for $50,000 back in December. In its place, the Housing Authority will build a brand-new three-bedroom, 1,500-square-foot home with a two-car garage on this and 11 other similar sites and will rent the homes for just over $1,000 per month when complete. As a part of the project, an additional eight homes will be constructed and offered for home-ownership for an estimated $190,000 a piece.

By early fall the first homes will be available for rent, with all 12 of the rental homes completed by year end and the additional eight homeownership properties and four four-plexes following close behind. When complete, the Housing Authority will have invested $10.3 million in this concentrated neighborhood revitalization effort. John Hagmeier, an award-winning Alaska home builder, is designing and building these new Mountain View homes.

Mountain View is the first target area for a new Cook Inlet Housing Authority neighborhood revitalization program that could eventually impact a number of Anchorage’s older neighborhoods. Redevelopment plans in Mountain View neighborhood are a culmination of two years of participation in Community Council meetings and planning meetings, as well as engaging with and listening to the wishes of community members based on a neighborhood wide housing survey. 

The overall Mountain View Neighborhood Revitalization Plan focuses on redevelopment of older deteriorating housing over the next five years. Mountain View has the highest concentration of Alaska Native and American Indian households (1,437 or 26.5 percent) and is one of the lowest per capita income neighborhoods in Anchorage. 

Eight of the 20 new single family homes will be set aside for more immediate homeownership to low-income families. The remaining 12 single family homes will be rentals for low-income families for a period of 15 years and then convert to homeownership. The four four-plex multi-family properties will be substantially rehabilitated for low-income families to rent at affordable rates. Low Income Housing Tax Credits will fund a substantial portion of this project.

Cook Inlet Housing Authority’s Neighborhood Revitalization Program provides initial investment capital in targeted neighborhoods with the intent of attracting private, local, state and other community investment necessary to improve the quality of housing in target neighborhoods, help low-income families become homeowners, reduce crime, and assist neighborhood organizations in achieving their community goals and managing their changing environments.

“With the participation of many critical partners such as the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, Municipality of Anchorage, and other private and community organizations, the Housing Authority hopes to be a catalyst for much needed investment in the housing stock, and ultimately in the quality of the living environment, within the targeted neighborhoods,” said Cook Inlet Housing Authority President and Chief Executive Officer Carol Gore.