The Juneau Planning Commission unanimously approved a scaled-down version of a proposed cruise ship dock and development project in downtown Juneau Tuesday night.
That’s after costs to build the project escalated dramatically, according to Susan Bell, Huna Totem Corp.’s vice president of strategic initiatives.
“It’s smaller-scale facilities,” she said at the meeting. “There still is a welcome center, waterfront retail, dining, a small cultural center, park, and event space.”
The planned development is called Áak’w Landing. It includes a cruise ship dock and a waterfront development project. The planning commission approved conditional use permits in 2023, and the Juneau Assembly approved a tidelands lease last year. The dock will be located in Gastineau Channel, off Egan Drive and next to the U.S. Coast Guard station.
On Tuesday, the planning commission approved amending the 2023 plan to allow for the upland development to be scaled down. According to Bell, the modifications include significantly downsizing its facilities, doing away with its underground parking plan, and reconfiguring the bus staging and parking area.
Bell previously told the Juneau Assembly that the project’s cost escalated from an expected $150 million to now more than $250 million, largely due to tariffs on steel and market volatility.
Karla Hart, a longtime activist against the growth of cruise ship tourism, was the only person to offer public testimony on the modifications. She cited several objections she had to the development overall, including concerns about traffic, pollution and changes in the dock configuration.
“Diesel pollution is incredibly toxic,” she said. “We continue to learn more and more, but the volume of information that we know that it’s incredibly toxic is intense.”
In 2023, Hart filed an appeal of the planning commission’s permit approval in hopes of stopping the development from moving forward. It was unsuccessful, but did significantly delay the project.
Huna Totem said this summer that it aims to begin construction next summer in 2027 and open in 2028.
