Downtown Anchorage is one step closer to getting an RV resort.
The Anchorage Assembly passed an ordinance on June 24 authorizing the Anchorage Community Development Authority to begin developing the site in the eastern part of Downtown.
Mike Robbins, the authority’s executive director, is quick to point out that the Denali View RV Resort will be more than just an RV park.
Conceptual drawings show elements of the land bank’s 2019 master plan, including a Native heritage memorial as the centerpiece and a garden that Robbins said will be harvested to feed Alaska Native elders.
It'll also have over 100 full-service hookups for RVs, a playground, amphitheater, several pickleball courts and is expected to have more than a dozen long-term housing units.
The project has support from multiple community groups, Robbins said, and is part of an effort to revitalize the area.
“We'll have this resort at the far end of Third Avenue, and we have the Saturday Market at the opposite end,” he said. “What will happen is we're activating positive traffic back and forth, and this will completely transform the whole Third Avenue corridor.”
The 15-acre lot at Third Avenue and Ingra Street is owned by the city’s Heritage Land Bank and was the site of the former Alaska Native Service Hospital. Before that, it was home to a dairy farm.
A few residents testified in support of the measure before the Assembly gave its blessing, saying the lot transformation is a long time coming. Several others said more of the land should be used for housing or a community of tiny homes for residents experiencing homelessness.
But Robbins said most of the land isn’t suitable for long-term housing because of the risk of damage from an earthquake.
Robbins described the area as it is now as an “eyesore” and said the project is turning it into an economic opportunity.
“We're turning it into something that will positively impact people for years to come, really,” he said. “I’m excited about the, hopefully, the cultural impact we’ll have with the Native memorial, and I'm excited about giving the neighborhood and Downtown someplace they can go and enjoy,” Robbins said.
RV spaces would cost around $125 a night, but prices will ultimately be determined by the RV resort’s operator, Robbins said.
The project is expected to be completed in 2028. It will cost around $6 million to build. Once it’s up and running, Robbins said it’s expected to generate around $36 million annually in revenue. ACDA is investing about a million dollars, and the organization is the only investor so far, he said.
The area is commonly referred to as “party hill,” and it’s time for the land to be developed, Assembly Chair Chris Constant said at a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday. Constant voiced concerns last year that the facility wouldn’t properly honor the former hospital site but said his opinion has changed.
“Through a series of long and challenging conversations, the master plan is respected and honored by this program, this proposal, and thus it became clear that this is a good idea for a temporary project,” he said.
The ordinance the Assembly passed in June leases the land to the Community Development Authority for 20 years. A bidder for development must be selected by December 2027.
