Glacier City Real Estate News
2nd Quarter MLS Sales Report April 1st, 2023 –June 30th, 2023
One home, six condos and three vacant land sales occurred thru the Alaska MLS April 1st - June 30th, 2023. This does not include non MLS FSBO residential or commercial sales, of which there were at least a few.
Homes - 1877 Alyeska Highway is a 1976 construction home featuring two bedrooms, a bathroom on each level, a loft area and is on a .45-acre flag lot. This home had been a nightly rental for a few years following the departure of the former owner from Girdwood. It was the only sale of a single-family residence through the MLS and sold for above list price in just three days.
Condos - 282 Crystal Mountain Road #102S (Alyeska South Brighton Bldg). This studio condo (no bedroom) is located in the Alyeska base area in easy walking distance for most to the lifts. I call these the compass condos: Alyeska North, South (Olympic & Brighton), East and West.
130 Taos Road #A3 (Silvertip Condos Ph 1) This is the six plex townhouse style building with tuck under garage spaces on the right as you turn off Crystal Mountain Road onto Taos. It features an open floor plan for the living room and kitchen area, gas fireplace, master suite and sauna. The sales price is unknown. However, both this unit and the one next door came on market simultaneously and sold immediately with multiple offers. The second unit is pending and has not closed yet.
116 Powder Run Lane #9, 151 Powder Run Lane #4, 122 Powder Run Lane #8, and 145 Powder Run Lane #5 (Powder Run Condos) are all townhouse style condos which came on market as new construction (to be built) in February of 2022. Located down valley off Sproat Road, these four are the last set to close and record. Their finishes are modern and include, granite/quartz countertops, cathedral ceilings, open concept and a twocar heated tuck under garage. The median sales price isn’t available to the public due to the small sample and at least one undisclosed sales price.
Vacant Land - L17 B2 Gold Claim Drive is located on Crow Creek Road in Raven Glacier Estates. It is larger than most lots in the area at almost four acres. This lot’s challenge is that it is on a platted but not yet built municipal road. Ready access for construction would still need to be arranged.
263 Whispering Bird Lane is another non-MLS “for stats only” sale. These typically occur in a FSBO situation where the Buyer is represented by a licensed real estate salesperson. This five acre parcel is located in Bird Creek Valley. With only two sales we really can’t provide a median sales price for this quarter.
Glacier City Realty - Honesty and Integrity in everything we do
Broker Summary - What a difference a year makes! June of 2022 coincides with the Feds march to tamp down inflation by increasing the prime lending rate in ten quarter point interest hikes These rate hikes took 3% interest rates to 6.75% where we sit currently. Residential sales in Anchorage are down 33% comparative to a year ago at this time. Statewide MLS sales are down year over year by 37%.
How is this impacting Girdwood’s real estate market? There are fewer Buyers bidding on properties than last winter. On less than a million-dollar sale most Buyers are still offering to pay over list price and are willing to make concessions to the Seller to close a deal. Every residential and condo listing in this quarter’s newsletter sold at or over list price. Rather than talking about the market as we move into the last half of the summer and fall, I thought I would touch on some of the more significant potential projects facing Girdwood.
On the horizon - Holtan Hills Back in April the Assembly postponed this project indefinitely. The Girdwood Board of Supervisors (GBOS) has since worked to get answers from the Municipal Land Use Department and the Heritage Land Bank (Lance Wilbur, Director).
A copy of the original bifurcation agreement of the original development agreement partnership, requesting HLB not be allowed to use the Crow Creek Neighborhood Land Use Plan as the Area Master Plan for development projects has been obtained. A seven member Girdwood Housing: Economic Advisory Committee was formed. How this group will interface with municipal and private groups is still in the formative stages.
Glacier Valley Lodge LLC - Tim Treadwell and Andrew Faulkner recently presented a pending state Department of Transportation (DOT) lease application for a fixed base operation of 150 short term lodging and auxiliary facilities on state airport property (a lodge basically). The public process for a DOT airport lease requires testimony in writing rather than through public meetings. The original window was 30 days but this has been extended by an additional 30 days thru July 13th, 2023. The developers are attending Land Use and GBOS meetings in Girdwood but are not willing to share many details presently due to this being a competitive bid process. GBOS solicited community input as to concerns around the project, which focused largely around increased traffic primarily on Mt. Hood Drive, drainage, location near/at wetlands, and the impact on water use. Other topics include whether the proposed use serves the needs of the aviation community.
Alyeska Village is a Pomeroy Properties project to build employee housing Pomeroy was originally partnered with Seth Anderson Group and CY investments in the Holtan Hills Project. Now Pomeroy is focused on creating staff housing for the hotel and resort. This project is on resort owned property but will have both municipal governments, the Land Use Committee and the Girdwood Board of Supervisors review. Seward Highway Interchange- This project is a doozy. It creates an interchange at the intersection of Alyeska Highway and the Seward Highway to allow traffic to enter and exit both highways Hopefully it will alleviate the need to turn across traffic as well as insuring traffic does not back up in normal circumstances at the entrance to the valley. Girdwood community members and others have voiced serious concern to the Department of Transportation about their preferred design This feedback seemingly has had little to no impact on what the state plans to build.
If you are looking to buy or sell real estate anywhere along Turnagain Arm or in Anchorage/Eagle River, and you enjoy this newsletter, please consider one of our knowledgeable expert Realtors to earn your business.
Glacier City Realty, your
The second quarter of 2022 saw eleven homes, seven condo sales and three vacant land sales.