Bauer/Clifton Interior Design has big ideas for redeveloping downtown Juneau’s biggest eyesore, the burnt out Gastineau Apartments.
“It would include a small, contemporary boutique hotel, high-rise condominiums, long-term apartment rentals, a restaurant and lounge as well as other amenities that would be a part of the hotel and made available to the residents of the condominiums,” said Jason Clifton. “And lastly, a parking garage or parking facility.”
Clifton, partner Jeremy Bauer, and a California real estate developer on the phone were pitching a public-private partnership with the city to the Juneau Assembly on Monday.
There were a lot of moving parts in that pitch: property tax breaks, hotel tax breaks, building new public parking spaces as an in-kind repayment for the city’s demolition costs and more. And a possible legal problem the city attorney flagged. That made members of the assembly ambivalent about jumping in.
Assemblyman Jerry Nankervis said he loved the idea. But, “There are so many variables out there right now that are so variable — I have some concerns about this. And it’s not about necessarily your project, it’s about how it’s gonna happen with us.”
The assembly was noncommittal, and asked city staff to continue exploring the proposal and negotiations as a way to recoup its demolition expenses.
