Politics

Legislature rejects initial claim by Anchorage office developers for $37 million

The Legislature on Thursday rejected a $37 million claim by the developers of lawmakers' old office building downtown, which they recently vacated.

Kodiak Republican Sen. Gary Stevens, acting as a procurement officer in his capacity as chairman of a legislative committee, issued a decision saying that the Legislature's lease with the downtown building's landlords, Mark Pfeffer and Bob Acree, allowed lawmakers to move out if they didn't set aside money to pay rent on the building.

The 22-page decision can be appealed to the Legislative Council, the committee that Stevens chairs, within two weeks. The claim by the landlords is a likely precursor to a lawsuit.

Nathaniel Herz

Anchorage-based independent journalist Nathaniel Herz has been a reporter in Alaska for nearly a decade, with stints at the Anchorage Daily News and Alaska Public Media. Read his newsletter, Northern Journal, at natherz.substack.com

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