Anchorage officials say the demolition of a long-vacant and decrepit motel is part of an effort to foster new development in the state’s largest city.
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Built in the 1970s, the Big Timber Motel had long been a blight on the area. The city’s code enforcement officers tried to address violations for 15 years. The 23-room building sat vacant for about a decade.
The building isn’t just an eyesore, Mayor Suzanne LaFrance said. It’s a safety hazard.
“It puts the neighbors at risk, and it puts our municipal staff and emergency personnel in harm’s way,” LaFrance said at a press conference Tuesday morning. “In fact, just recently, one of our police officers fell through a compromised floor while responding to a call inside this structure.”
After LaFrance spoke, city staff and neighbors watched as a demolition crew used an excavator to tear down the building. The demolition was expected to wrap up Thursday.
The city has been working with the property’s owner to get the building demolished, said Anchorage Economic and Development Director Bob Doehl. The task of redeveloping or selling the land – which sits on an ideal location on 5th Avenue – falls on the owner, Doehl said.
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“It has water, sewer, gas, electricity,” Doehl said. “It’s all there, which is usually a substantial cost if you’re going to build from a green field. So what we’re doing is we’re empowering economic development by removing the biggest constraints on it, which is this building.”
The demolition and removal of hazardous materials cost about $287,000, which the city will recoup whenever the owner sells the property, Doehl said. That’s due to a lien the city has on it.
City property tax records show the property is valued at $362,900.
There have been about 20 similar demolitions since Mayor LaFrance took office in 2024, Doehl said. He said he sees the effort as a way to bolster new development and economic activity in the city without needing to find new land.
“Rather than watching a building rot in place, it shows a way you can remove it and have a parcel that is ready for redevelopment,” Doehl said.
There are another 20 to 30 similar buildings in distress around Anchorage that could be demolished, Doehl said. That includes a city-owned fourplex in the Mountain View neighborhood he said could be taken down by the end of the month.
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