Redeveloping an Anchorage community: Mountain View business district forges a new future.

• Author: West, Gail
• Position: Ripe for Redevelopment - Company overview

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One of the oldest business and residential neighborhoods in Anchorage is sitting poised for a resurgence of its former glory. Mountain View has had its ups and downs over the years, probably reaching its nadir sometime in the last 10 years. Today, however, it boasts new homes, new businesses, a revitalized grocery store, a financial institution and a shopping community just waiting for the right opportunities to come its way.

Founded in 1940 and assimilated by Anchorage in 1954, the neighborhood is one of the few gateways to both sides of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. In its heyday--in the late '40s and early '50s--Mountain View was home to many military families and was the city's first suburb with both residential and commercial business support. The Army Corps of Engineers laid out the streets on a well organized grid.

Today, Mountain View still sits in a prime Anchorage location. On the northern edge of the city, it's an easy stop for commuters to run errands and grab last-minute groceries on their way home to Eagle River or the Mat-Su Valley in the evenings. The ground beneath the community's buildings is some of the finest in the bowl. And, like the Phoenix, Mountain View is beginning to rise from the ashes of its near-demise.

BOOSTING NEW DEVELOPMENT

Under the leadership of former Mayor Mark Begich, several entities focused their efforts on the community and began to destroy derelict structures, refresh tired streets and bring new businesses into the neighborhood. Mountain View Drive was rebuilt and its intersection with Bragaw Street was upgraded. Clark Middle School was replaced as a state-of-the-art educational facility, the community library reopened, a new Credit Union 1 building was erected on the former site of an old gas station and Glenn Square Mall lured national chain stores into the community.

Cook Inlet Housing Authority began buying properties in Mountain View in 2002 and began razing blighted buildings--128 by their count. In their places, CIHA has built 228 new homes and two mixed-use buildings and is seeking a business opportunity for the old Brewster's building, which may be bizmag.com Alaska Business Monthly demolished in favor a new building, and eight lots to the west of the building.

"We're talking to a number of interested businesses who would like to have a location on that corner," said Carol Gore, president and CEO of CIHA. "It would require new development, and we want it to be a...