Making the case for mixed-use development in anchorage.

• Author: Seely, Nichelle
• Position: CONSTRUCTION

A few years ago, a friend who had never been outside Alaska travelled to the Czech Republic. When he returned, he couldn't stop talking about how people in the cities could live directly above their shops. He gushed about streets full of pedestrians, sidewalk cafes, and residents sitting on their balconies to observe the scene below. He'd never seen or experienced anything like it. He asked me: why isn't there something like this in Anchorage?

Fast forward to the present. I've been working on the renovation of a downtown building with retail on the bottom and low-income housing on the second and third floors. In examining other nearby buildings, I noticed that there simply aren't any other structures that combine retail and residential. I realized that, when I travel to cities in the Lower 48 and other countries, I see something that doesn't exist in our largest Alaska city: a vibrant downtown core that mixes commercial and residential functions in a seamless, animated whole.

Planned Integration

What exactly do we mean by "mixed use"? In a 2007 report entitled "Mixed-Use Development: A Review of Professional Literature," The NAIOP (National Association of Industrial and Office Properties) Research Foundation defines it as "a real estate project with planned integration of some combination of retail, office, residential, hotel, recreation, or other functions. It is pedestrian-oriented and contains elements of a live-work-play environment. It maximizes space usage, has amenities and architectural expression, and tends to mitigate traffic and sprawl."

Note that this organization is a commercial real estate development association. It isn't some academic think tank with pie-in-the-sky ideas but a practical group with practical interests. The report notes that it has been shown again and again that mixed-use development can lead to revitalized downtowns and suburbs. An active urban center is good for the economy, attracts tourists, and is enjoyable for the community residents. In addition, it can be a profit center for a canny developer. So why don't we have more of it here?

The downtown core is zoned B2A, B2B, and B2C--all of which allow for some degree of residential development. However, there are only a few apartment complexes on the edges of downtown and some upscale penthouse condominiums in office buildings like the Peterson Tower. There is no real mixed-use development with integrated and complementary functions.

Is there not enough...