Juneau Assembly stays the course on Gastineau demolition

A Seattle developer is considering renovating the historic building and turning into it subsidizerd and market-rate housing. (Photo by Elizabeth Jenkins)
The burned out Gastineau Apartments are still slated to be demolished after a developer attempted an eleventh-hour save. (Photo by Elizabeth Jenkins)

The crumbling Gastineau Apartments are still slated to be torn down. The Juneau Assembly voted 2-6 on Monday not to change course, after a Seattle developer presented an alternate plan.

Private Public Partnership LLC and local company, Coogan Alaska Construction, have entered into a last-minute purchasing agreement with Gastineau’s owner. But haven’t bought the building yet. The group originally intended to turn the building into affordable housing.

Construction attorney, Garth Schlemlein, said that plan changed after meeting with city officials and realizing their sense of urgency.

“And that’s why we have morphed away from the affordable housing and the time that would take to pull that together to a more right-of-tackle straightforward deal that we will know within 30 days what it’s going to take us to do what we’re planning,” Schlemlein said.

City engineer, Rorie Watt, said it would cost the city $50,000 to delay the demolition, which was already contracted to CBC Construction.

Schlemlein and his partners presented the assembly with an option to salvage Gastineau into a turn-key shell. After the rehab, the city could purchase the building. But several downtown business owners testified in opposition.

Colleen Goldrich, of Annie Kaill’s, said she’d experienced the negative effects being located next to an empty building.

“I just worry that we’ll end up in the same position that we’re in now with a nice looking shell that will then degrade and there will be no improvement, and the opportunities we have right now may go away,” Goldrich said.

The city budgeted $1.8 million for the project which it hopes to recoup from the owners, James Barrett and his mother.

Assemblymember Loren Jones said he was tired of the owners jerking him around.

“As far as I’m concerned, we proceed with the demolition order,” Jones said. “Whoever buys that property buys that demolition order. If we lose the $1.8 because it stays a hole in the ground, I guess that’s the price we pay.”

The city needs to send the notice to proceed to CBC construction for the demolition deal to be finalized.

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