Toward 10,000: Housing Developments Coming to Anchorage

Spinelli has had a similar experience with Spruce Terraces, which his company is preparing to build above Golden View Drive. “There seems to be quite a bit of million-dollar homebuyers,” Spinelli said.

In the more attainable range, Spinell Homes is continuing to build Birch Meadow, along Glenn Highway near Turpin Street. The 1,500–2,000-square-foot homes are in the $500,000–$550,000 price range. “This is about as affordable as you can build new construction, single-family in Anchorage,” Spinelli said. “They’re pretty nice homes for that price range, but they’re slow to sell. They have a hard time competing with the resale market.” He noted that Hultquist Homes is also adding units to subdivisions in that part of East Anchorage.

Inventory is tight, even including existing homes. Yoshimura reported that just ninety-two homes were listed in Anchorage as of the end of February, which she considered shocking. Only ten are under $400,000. The average is almost $550,000, and that midpoint has risen almost 40 percent since 2020. “That average alone is reason to jump on the housing ladder,” Yoshimura said. “This is the backbone of leveraged wealth opportunity for the vast majority of us.”

Progress toward adding rungs on the ladder is measured in building permits. The municipality counted more than 400 permits for dwelling units in 2025, up from 300 in 2024, and the mayor’s office anticipates more than 500 this year.

One major development would be in Girdwood: the Holtan Hills project by CY Investments. The public-private partnership with the city’s Heritage Land Bank launched in 2024, and sewer and water infrastructure has now been installed. Phase 1 includes thirty-nine sites for single-family homes, duplexes, triplexes, and accessory dwelling units. Yoshimura told the chamber luncheon that 159 buyers have submitted letters of interest ahead of a reservation period opening in the next few days.

Spinell Homes also has a project on the drawing board to absorb some Girdwood demand: Alpine View Chalets, a subdivision of eleven detached condominiums. Another project in South Anchorage, Fern Hollow, would add houses around a cul-de-sac in a popular neighborhood. Spinelli told the chamber, “Anything in that Bicentennial Park area—between Lake Otis, Elmore, and Bicentennial Park—seems like a place where people want to live. It’s close to U-Med [the university and hospital district], it’s close to parks and trails.”

Yoshimura also touts Spenard as a hot neighborhood where she’s building Rail Crossing, a complex of three townhouses. “Spenard is really an emerging marketplace,” she said. “I consider it sort of the creative arts center and entertainment area.”

Hurdles to Overcome

Other forthcoming projects include Debenham Properties’ Raspberry Townhomes in South Anchorage, scheduled for 2027. A new senior living complex just received zoning approval near DeBarr Road and Bragaw Street. And the biggest leap toward the goal of 10,000 homes is the 1,100 units at Powder Reserve West by the Alaska Native village corporation Eklutna Inc. on its land near the North Eagle River highway exit.

Powder Reserve West might take a decade to complete, however. Long timelines, according to Yoshimura, are a consequence of connecting home sites to infrastructure. “A subdivision will work if you put in the road and your water and sewer, the ‘pigtails’ for all that,” she said. “But to take the water and sewer line 1,000 feet or 2,000 feet, however far you have to go… That’s the true hidden cost.”

Recognizing that hurdle, Doehl assured developers the city and its agencies are working on it. “It’s a hidden cost, [so utilities] are finding new ways to cooperate with developers to reduce costs,” he said.

Permitting is becoming less of a hurdle. For instance, Eklutna Inc. Vice President of Operations Kyle Smith compared the timeline for the Village Park development in Chugiak with another project in Butte, subject to Matanuska-Susitna Borough permitting. “It almost was a tie, something that was unexpected for us, exciting for us,” said Smith. “Kudos to the folks at the Muni, pushing this forward faster and getting us in a position where we can build, two seasons after this came to mind.”

Smith noted that Powder Ridge West should complete platting and permitting in 2026, with sewer and electric installation in 2027, and a road laid down in 2028 before the project’s 1,100 homes, plus commercial and industrial properties, can be built. He also teased the possibility of a commuter rail connection, given the property’s proximity to the Alaska Railroad tracks.

Doehl encouraged all this activity toward the mayor’s housing goal: “Build, baby, build! Because prices aren’t going to get cheaper.”