Proposed Holtan Hills housing project in Girdwood is back on the Anchorage Assembly’s table

An Anchorage Assembly member took a step this week to revive the controversial Holtan Hills housing project in Girdwood, though a leader in the resort town said that without any substantive changes, the project is not likely to receive the town’s support.

Assembly vice chair Meg Zaletel laid a proposed ordinance on the table at Tuesday night’s Assembly meeting that calls for the disposal of 60 acres of municipal-owned land for the project.

A first step is a public hearing set for Jan. 9, she said in an interview Wednesday. She said the hearing may be delayed because that meeting’s agenda is pretty full.

In February, Zaletel led the Assembly’s effort to indefinitely postpone the item. She and other Assembly members at the time cited a lack of faith that the short-staffed and unstable Bronson administration could properly oversee the project.

Holtan Hills also faced stiff resistance from Girdwood residents, a town of 2,000 that’s part of the municipality. They argued that Holtan Hills would not create housing that local workers can afford, and that the town desperately needs.

Holtan Hills would involve a profit-splitting agreement between the Heritage Land Bank and a private development company owned by Anchorage Realtor and residential land developer Connie Yoshimura. Plans call for the creation of more than 100 homes, condominiums and multifamily units northwest of Alyeska Resort.

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Zaletel said the current proposal has the same requirements as the one she submitted in February, including that the land bank would use a portion of its Holtan Hills profit to designate at least one lot to a Girdwood entity, for building at least eight units to provide community housing for residents.

She said the difference now is that there is a process underway to hire a real estate consultant to look out for the interests of the municipal land bank, after the Assembly approved $119,000 for the position in April.

“The thing I wanted was continuity throughout the project,” Zaletel said. “It’s no secret that there hasn’t been a ton of continuity of staff in the municipality. So taking that opportunity outside, through a contract that can span potential administrations or any personnel changes, is really important to me.”

Jennifer Wingard, co-chair of the Girdwood Board of Supervisors, the local governing body in the town, said the proposal was not part of Tuesday’s original agenda, and was a surprise to the community.

With no “substantive changes” to the proposal from the one earlier this year, the deep opposition to the project in Girdwood is likely to remain, she said.

She said Girdwood continues to have an increasingly acute need for workforce housing, based on new data from local entities.

Many local workers are living in their vehicles even in winter, she said. And a large number of homes, particularly condominiums, are used for short-term rentals or second homes, taking units off the market for local residents and contributing to soaring prices.

But the community believes that the anticipated price of Holtan Hills units will make them unaffordable for local workers, she said. Meanwhile, the provision for at least eight units that can be developed by a Girdwood entity isn’t expected to make much of a dent in the problem, she said.

Zaletel said the Assembly has taken multiple steps to create more housing in the municipality. As part of that effort, it’s important to continue the conversation around Holtan Hills, she said.

She said she’s hoping to hear from Girdwood residents and others with input on ways to make the housing project happen.

“You know, how to make these units a reality in Girdwood when they’re so desperately needed,” she said.