In the Native Village of Saxman, a few miles south of Ketchikan, construction has wrapped up on brand new affordable housing units.
Community leaders celebrated the project with a ribbon-cutting last weekend, and people toured some of the new apartments.
There are 14 units total, in four different buildings – four units are right next to the Saxman Community Center off Tongass Avenue – and they’re all within walking distance of each other. Many have tall ceilings and big windows. Some are wheelchair accessible, with shorter countertops and ramps leading up to the doors.
All of them feature two bedrooms, one bathroom, and a full kitchen and living room with washers and dryers as well as dishwashers.
In nearby Ketchikan, the need for affordable housing isn’t new. Borough mayor Rodney Dial says they’ve been looking for solutions to the shortage for a long time now.
“And the housing has to be affordable,” Dial said. “It needs to be at a level at which people can afford to make those monthly payments and then still have money for food and the necessities of life. So it’s a way to solve many different social problems with just a house, right?”
Some of that work has been in the form of grants, like those from the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation. The AHFC launched the Last Frontier Housing Initiative based on where housing needs are the most persistent — including in communities like Nome, Kotzebue, Sitka, and Ketchikan.
Local community leaders, including Dial, met with the AHFC in 2023 to come up with a plan. The city was given around $4.5 million and 18 months to complete construction.
“It’s really critical to our economy,” Dial said. “Now, you know, you can call it workforce housing in some regards, because unless we have affordable housing units, we know that young people aren’t going to be able to live here.”
The AHFC used COVID-19 money that would have otherwise expired to fund the projects. The Saxman units are the first to be completed.
AHFC spokesperson Stacey Barnes says there was immediate buy-in from Ketchikan and Saxman community leaders.
“Part of what the city and the borough agreed to do with Saxman is actually realign their bus route and the timing so that people who are living in these units will have the opportunity to come in and Ketchikan for employment or childcare, whatever it is that they might need,” Barnes said. “In terms of community commitment, I think that speaks volumes.”
Saxman Mayor Frank Seludo says he hopes for more affordable housing projects in the future.
“I would like to keep building, but it’s up to the city council on where they would like to go,” Seludo said. “I’m all about building more houses, but it’s up to the city council on where they want, where they would like to go.”
Applications for all 14 units are available now. You can find them at the Saxman City Center at 2841 S Tongass Hwy.
