Juneau Assembly moves forward with Telephone Hill demolition plan that would evict residents this fall

The Juneau Assembly chose a preliminary redevelopment plan on Monday night for the downtown Telephone Hill neighborhood that — if approved — would evict residents by Oct. 1. 

The move marks a major step toward breaking ground after years of planning. But, the city would be asking for evictions before a developer has signed onto the project.

The plan would demolish all of the existing houses and structures on Telephone Hill this fall. City officials want to lay the groundwork for a developer to build newer, denser housing where the historic neighborhood once stood next summer. The city has not yet put out a formal request for proposals from potential developers.

“You might need to invest in demolition and site preparation just to be able to attract developers,” City Manager Katie Koester told Assembly members at Monday’s Committee of the Whole meeting.

Members decided to move forward with a plan that would spend $5.5 million to fund the first phase of demolition and site preparation of the downtown neighborhood.

Assembly member Alicia Hughes-Skandijs called investing in developing new housing a priority amid Juneau’s housing crunch. 

“I think if we want affordability, I think if we want them to densify in this site, it is going to require a big commitment of capital funds from the city,” Hughes-Skandijs said. 

 

The Assembly will take public comment and hold a final vote on the ordinance before any work can begin. That’s expected to happen on June 9. But, if approved, it would give the tenants living there about four months to move out of their units and find new housing.

Assembly member Wade Bryson said he thinks the city has given residents more than enough notice already to find a new place. 

“We’re asking these people to vacate during the easiest time of the year to find housing,” he said. “We are not being haphazard or careless, this has been talked about and has methodically gotten to this point.”

The neighborhood sits on roughly four acres of land on a hill that straddles the State Office Building downtown. It was state-owned from the 1980s until 2023 when the city took it over. The state originally intended to build a new Capitol complex there, but that never panned out. All people living there are renters. 

Last year, the Assembly voted to redevelop the neighborhood to build denser housing in response to Juneau’s ongoing housing crunch. The new plan would be an official start to the process. 

But not everyone thought it was the best idea. Assembly member Paul Kelly was the only member to vote against the plan. He said he wants a more defined plan before asking tenants to leave. 

“I don’t feel good about moving forward when we don’t have a guarantee for more housing, we’re going to be asking people to leave,” he said. “I would like us to be able to guarantee that we’re not going to have something that’s going to potentially sit idle.”

The $5.5 million slotted to fund the demolition and site preparation would be pulled from a few city funding sources. Some Assembly members were concerned that costs could skyrocket if they wait. Koester said that’s always a risk, but especially now amid the Trump Administration’s tariff policies. 

The ordinance will be introduced at an Assembly meeting on May 19. Koester said the city will send eviction notices to tenants sometime that week. 

Demolition would begin between October and December, so a developer could begin construction next summer. Developers would be on the hook for any road construction costs related to the project.