The Municipality of Anchorage is preparing to break ground on what some are calling a step forward in transitional housing, and what others, with a wink, are already calling “The Crampground.”
Mayor Suzanne LaFrance, in partnership with the Anchorage Community Development Authority, announced this week that Visser Construction has been tapped to design and build 24 “microunits” on city-owned land near the Elmore Permit Center. This is the approximate location where former Mayor Dave Bronson attempted to construction a homeless navigation center, to connect homeless people with services appropriate to their needs.
The pilot project, formally known as the “Microunits for Recovery Residences,” aims to offer temporary housing for individuals transitioning out of homelessness and into substance misuse recovery. The 24 units, about 96 square feet each, will cost $1.7 million and will be paid for by the public treasury from opioid settlement funds. It’s a two-year pilot, with the possibility of relocating or scrapping the units if the program is not successful.
These shoebox chateaus are a cornerstone of Mayor LaFrance’s Homelessness and Health Strategy. They’ll come equipped with utility hookups and supporting infrastructure, with doors expected to open to residents by Oct. 15.
But the 24 units will fall short of meeting the needs of the approximately 3,000 who are roaming Anchorage streets without a certain place to lay their heads.
“The proposals we received demonstrated creativity, expertise, and a shared commitment to advancing housing solutions for our community,” said Mike Robbins, Executive Director of ACDA, who hinted that this is just the beginning of a wider vision. The final contract with Visser Construction is pending approval at ACDA’s August board meeting.
Mayor LaFrance, who has bought into the “housing first” philosophy, said the microunits are designed as “a vital bridge to stability,” offering low-cost, low-barrier shelter for people looking to get back on their feet. “This pilot project exemplifies Anchorage’s commitment to finding innovative solutions for homelessness and the substance use epidemic,” she said.
Still, in places like Seattle, where such crawl-in closets have been tried in village settings, there’s been a lot of resistance, and the villages quickly have become shantytowns filled with social problems, crime, and overdosed residents.
Midtown Assembly Member Felix Rivera, who helped spearhead the idea through a now-disbanded Complex Behavioral Health Community Task Force, said the project reflects the kind of creative thinking Anchorage needs. “I’m excited to see these kinds of partnerships come together and for Midtown to play a key role, as it has for years, towards finding creative solutions to address our community’s challenges.”
The city plans to select a site operator through a competitive process in the coming weeks.
The idea of microunits in Anchorage isn’t new. The In Our Backyard project, launched by a local church in 2024, paved the way.
Just how I want my tax dollars spent not on police fire roads parks, but supporting people that are capable of working, but choose not to.
“…….24 units, about 96 square feet each, will cost $1.7 million…….”
$738 per sq. ft. That’s luxury, high end residential construction costs in Anchorage. And they’ll be trashed in no time flat.
Reggie, votes don’t come cheap.
If you think I’m kidding take a look at the number of homeless, and then look at the margin of most assembly races in anchorage.
Now convince me that all this public money going into freebies for homeless is not specifically designed to tip the balance in any local election.
That’s what I thought, at $70,000 a unit, lot of money to be made on the homelessness situation. 96 sq. feet = 8 X 8
Check your math pard.
When palisades burned… a number of shelters magically appeared along the beach to house firefighters and other rescue workers ….Fires out… and poof.. all those shelters places disappeared… and they grumbled about the homeless along the beach in Venice… why didn’t they let the homeless make use of all those emergency shelters…?? And build more like them to set up in various locations for the homeless… putting some dumpsters…& porta potty’s…and since the police are frequently around… there’s the security… to over see problems… just a thought…
Reggie, your math is correct, and at that $738 price/ft2, my very nice and well-maintained home would quadruple in value. And we know that the good Anchortown mayor and muni assembly would LOVE to quadruple our property tax, especially since their friends and cohorts are all being granted ‘special’ exemptions from the muni’s property tax. But this program is ‘creative!’ as Rivera will argue, because the poor homeless, irresponsible addicts need Rivera’s generous (with our money) help.
YUP 100%, And someone ‘LaFrance’ will have full pockets from that deal
They are giving a 100 square foot “home” , at 700k each. My children cant even get into that price range home on a mortgage!
$1.7 million? Over $70,000 for each little 10×10 shack? How many grifters are getting a share of that?
Crampground, my *ss. You let the homeless into your neighborhood under any condition, and it will soon become the Crapground.
Median home price per square foot in Anchorage:
$255 (data for July 2025 from Fed Reserve Bank Statistics).
LaFrance/Assembly price per square foot for Microunits:
$738. ($1.7M / (24 units at 96 sq ft each))
What a bargain. Is Meg Zaletel on the take for this like all the other “homeless” initiatives?
That $250 per sq. Ft cost does not include land and utilities.
Way more than 250 a foot, Check your math.
These shacks will be trashed in no time at all.
How long will it take them to destroy these mini-lafarce band-aids?
Id like to point out that, according to the ACEH dashboard, theres approximately between 550-600 people living “unsheltered” in Anchorage. The roughly 3,000 number includes everyone in the system but we dont see the vast majority of those on the street as theyre more than likely employed and living in some form of shelter or subsidized housing.
Daniel, full disclosure…this is not an exact quote. Anyone can review these meetings on YouTube to see exactly what was said. Basically people who are living on the streets and in camps (people with “lived experience”) have been testifying to the Anchorage Assembly that the numbers that are being reported by ACEH and other nonprofit groups are very inaccurate! It doesn’t sound like we, whether employed, living unsheltered, living sheltered, or what our respective ideologies are can trust what is being told to us.
Another government boondoggle that won’t work. So easy to spend other people’s money on feel good ineffective projects. Just the language alone – ‘substance misuse’, ‘experiencing homelessness’, ‘unhoused’ – all words removing self responsibility. Unless you treat people like adults, with adult expectations, consequences and accountability, they will remain behaving like toddlers. The money would be better spent poured into law enforcement and consequences for vagrancy, vandalism and theft upheld.
That is flipping ridiculous to spend that much per unit. Somebody is getting taken for a ride.
This is silly! Why not just construct a single building, with a single heat plant, utilities, and water, then just put in single residency rooms? Contractors have been providing similar dorms on the North Slope, etc., for decades. 24 seperate units means 24 more sets of problems, and much higher costs! Nutz!!
And: the ‘housing first’ model is crazy as well, as it just enables addictive behavior. Finally, without rules, chaos follows. Why not start such that they can only stay housed so long as they follow rules, and get clean, or comply with needed mental health care treatment? These aren’t infants, they can take responsibility for their own lives!
Anchorage voted for it, that’s why I am leaving Alaska and someone else can pay my property tax!
You can buy a furnished conex for about $8000. Electrical hookups, interior walls/ceiling/floor, converted entrance, etc. Add another $1,000 for furnishings (I’m being generous) and another $1,000 for shipping it and the city could have provided 7x the housing for the same amount. They could have 14x the housing if they made each conex double occupancy. That would have been 10% of the entire homeless population housed for the same amount of money.
The muni should be investigated for corruption by the attorney general for corruption
Remember COVID funds were supposed to help businesses during a time of need. How can they just take the money and use it for other purposes?
At just over $70k per unit, seems like money well spent. And it addresses .008% of the problem, so big wins all around.
City wasting our money again, bravo Anchorage residents for being pathetic voters. Liberals only know how to waste and spend, the grift is hard to resist.
Holy cow if my calculator works properly these Cadilac huts cost 737 dollars per square foot. What makes them so special? Ia thiss some company owned by our Susan LaFrance? This doesn’t pass the smell test by my nose!
Site operator….there is another easy million per year (conservative estimate).
The city is bound by the Alaska Landlord Tenant Act. That means when someone gets out of line and needs to go, they must served written notice (process server $$$). If they do not voluntarily leave, the Landlord has to file a lawsuit ($$$). Once filed, and served the clerk of court will schedule a hearing. Assuming the Judge agrees, the Tenant must vacate the Judge willl issue a forcible entry and detainer order. AFTER the FED, if the tenant does not leave the city will need to go back to court ($$$) and request a writ of execution authorizing law enforcement to remove the tenant. Once LE removes the Tenant, the city is responsible for retaining all possessions left behind by the tenant ($$$). Later, the city can file ANOTHER lawsuit ($$$) so they they can dispose of the personal property.
To be clear. City Governments are not immune from the Landlord Tenant Act. Nobody is! And just as an aside, you don’t even have to a have paid lease for the law to apply. Any agreement, for money or any other term, grants someone rights as a tenant.
Oh yeah, State law prohibits the agent of the landlord (the site operator) from filing or representing the Landlord in court so the city will also need to pay an attorney ($$$$$$$) to do all the filings and court appearances.
Get your popcorn ready and wait for the ACLU to swing into action the first time Johnny Drug Dealer gets served with notice to vacate ($$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$).
Somebody else can add up all those dollar signs.
Another cash to a friend plan from the running RICO violation that is the municipal government.
70+ thousand each! How many 18-24 foot travel trailer could be bought off Craigslist or facebook for 5-15 grand each?
But there wouldn’t be any kickbacks going that route
You right winger victimhood snowflakes don’t want solutions, you just want to complain, Fact. So pathetic.
No kidding RINO. Why is homelessness so compelling to the Right? There are more serious problems (Trump) to be pissed off about.
Perhaps Manny, when we have an infestation in our homes, we choose to exterminate the problem rather than let is sit ‘because there could be something else to be pissed off about’. Perhaps we have a local problem of which we CAN do something about and we are directing our energy to correcting the problem in our local community. If you don’t have problems at home, then good on ya! You can take your privilege and go do something about Trump, since you got all that sweet free time and lack of problems. God speed.
RINO, you are the only thing pathetic on this thread.
You loser trolls are absolutely allergic to personal responsibility and accountability it is no wonder you choose weak feminazi leaders expecting results but have nothing to show for it other than increased debt and a false sense of moral superiority.
Btw, not everyone who opposes you is some “right winger”. Get a clue.
I am absolutely a right wing nut job, and I want solutions. However, I want solutions that work.
This is not a solution that works. It is something that has been tried all over, and it fails to help any measurable number of vagrants. It is, for lack of a better term, a total waste of money and effort.
.
Give us a solution that actually gets people off the streets, and I will absolutely support it.
I think that the care for homeless is good and it is cost-effective on the long run when we consider everything. This seems like a good goal, at least when considering the sorrow fate of Hungary for contrast, that has fallen into a social trap due to disintegrated polarized society with inequalities, and also into a complete state capture, amounting to hybrid authoritarianism and de facto one-party state.
Who owns Visser? Union shop?
Too much money is spent on the residentially impaired. At 70k a pop, this is quite lucrative. I’d say I went into the wrong business… but I have a conscience. The homeless population will only continue to grow as more money and resources are poured into them.
$70.8k per unit is too much. Tiny homes can be built for a fraction of the cost. Sheds are even cheaper.
Mandatory drug test, no alcohol, keep them clean, no pets, absolutely make them get some kind of a job to pay something for rent and maybe this could help. If the tax payers just give them this it will fail like all the rest of the ill fated attempts.
Why not cash in on the problem: it ain’t goin’ away. Our gal’s in office, and there’s money for the taking!
Visser builds beautiful homes. Did not realize or never thought I needed to be drugged out and lazy in order to live in one of their builds.
So. Who built these?
What. Bunch of morons running this city it’ll never change till they pass away
You can count on some former politically connected crony to get the contract to build these units, site operator or maintenance contract for these high end (12′ x 8′) 96 sq. ft. $70,833 “homes”. At $738/sq. ft. that is highway robbery. Government can’t do anything right. Who lives in these units? 1 or 2 persons at most? I built a solid 10′ L x 8′ W x 11′ H (6/12 pitch) out of pressure treated wood, simpson tie fastners for rafters, studs/sill plates, for $3,400 (free labor-me and a buddy).
I’ll quadruple that cost + 20% ($16,320, labor is not free, lumber price increases due to tariffs) to make 12′ x 8′ x 11′ high (6/12 pitch) tiny home with insulated walls, sheetrocked, egress windows, cabinets, plumbing, wiring, LED fixtures, counter space, electric heat and still not be anywhere near $70K. Of course that doesn’t take into account the planning and permitting costs that have to be added.
This is a sick joke. You can buy pod homes from Amazon for less than $20k. They’re ready to go. My original idea was to insulate, ventilate, wire and plumb short Connex boxes and stack them two or three boxes high in a row. Put a couple of Connex boxes together for a post office, a few more for a cafeteria, and a couple for an infirmary. Make sure drugs and booze aren’t allowed and post a police officer there 24/7 to keep an eye on things. Anyone wanting to get out of their homeless situation can then do so.
Wonder how Visser Construction is connected to the kabal?
Sadly these people need more than a shack. They need to be connected to a sponsor, a real person, or family, and hand held all they way to getting on their feet. And even then, it may not stick. The city should partner with ANTHC since homeless natives regularly get showers and a bed there periodically when they get treated for medical issues. Downtown yesterday I walked around 2 seriously mentally ill women, one black gal screaming nonsense, the other, white, in pj’s acting like a child. Tourists were appalled, as they should be. Sad really.
$71,000 plus utils and maintenance.
Just a dandy idea.
Oh yeah, I’m sure some NGO is profiting handsomely for this boon doggel.
Do they have cable, high-speed Internet, daily maid service and personal yoga classes too?
Why is the city hiring anyone to make these. There are called “ATCO” or construction camps and have been available commercially for 50 or 60 years. How do you think Prudhoe Bay ever got started and are still a lifeline in use. Guess we’ll find out what kind of life these structures will have when a different kind of tenant moves in !!!!!
what is included in the buildings shower, toilet, kitchen?
built tiny house 12×24 for 35k labor included with all the above.
utility hook up cost?
utility cost?
hazmat cleanup?
supervision/ management cost
its just OPM other peoples money, right!!!!
Ok, enough is enough is enough!!! Our patience has worn thin! Every single time the powers that be offer the sick lame and lazy a place to lay their heads and every time the vagrants trash the place. Our parks, our sports facilities, hotels and our neighborhoods. Anchorage has turned into a sh@t hole and is absolutely unsafe for our law abiding citizens!
$70k for a glorified porta-potty.
Does anybody actually try to figure out why they are homeless? I’m going to say its mostly life choices but I’m tired of the “change the location not the behavior” approach. I’d rather not spend money at all and just arrest the lot for breaking the law, but if we are going to spend money we could probably spend a 10th of what they are proposing and have a pretty good layout why all this is happening. Outside of poor government choices of course, that’s always a given.
Laziness. Something NEVER talked about.
They are LAZY
If Rivera is “excited,” it’s wrong.
Remember the Great Alaska LeDoux Vote Experiment?
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“LeDoux brought in a Laotian campaign worker from California, Charlie Chang, whom she paid $10,000 to register people to vote and help them get their ballots in. At one small mobile home, some 17 people were registered to vote at that address.”
(‘https://mustreadalaska.com/ledoux-over-state-will-try-former-lawmaker-once-more-in-election-fraud-case-stretching-back-to-2018/)
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Now there’ll be 24 “microunits” on city-owned land near the Elmore Permit Center, which means each “microunit has a physical address where new voter(s) can register, be helped to vote, and have their ballots mailed in for them.
.
So, 24 microunits x 17 voters per unit …maybe 408 brand-new voters?
.
Can’t happen here of course, but what if it did, who’s checking?
All that money! almost 3 times the sq/ft cost of building in ANC.
I hope Eric Visser will pay union wages on this project.
Why don’t our “idiots” buy some ATCO trailers?
You know, the ones regular working folks live in.
Why is it if your addicted to drugs or alcohol you can qualify for something like this but if you just have financial problems, me being on Social Security at the age 58 unable to work what about housing for people like us?
And just because people are homeless, not all of us are nasty pigs
Why can’t my shop get projects like that?
Did I miss the solicitation?
I could do a nice job for over $700.00 per square foot…
Hey! Is this where tge homeless will go while daddy Putin is eating borscht at AFN?