Facts regarding Telephone Hill
- Guest contributor
- 20 hours ago
- 2 min read
By Larry Talley
In 1984 the state purchased Telephone Hill, in some cases from unwilling sellers via eminent domain, with intentions that are no longer in play. In March 2023 the site was officially conveyed to the City and Borough of Juneau, and the city began the Telephone Hill Redevelopment Project ostensibly to improve housing availability.
In late 2024 CBJ issued a request for information to ascertain developer interest in redevelopment of Telephone Hill. There was one response which provided no plan, design, timeline or cost.
It isn't apparent that the visioning/planning done to date has adequately considered the topography of the site and the engineering constraints. The site may not be capable of supporting tall buildings. Requests to Assembly members and CBJ staff for evidence of geotechnical engineering have gone unanswered, and I am left believing that there has been none. If so no one knows if the site will support dense housing.
With such fundamental design, engineering and construction unknowns it is not possible to estimate the benefit (units of housing) or costs of construction, and speculation about "total project cost" is meaningless, so this project is exactly a "blank check" or a long-term parking lot.
This project evicts approximately 15 people, with no reasonable expectation of replacement housing units in the foreseeable future.
Beginning with $5.5 million, this project anticipates spending $9 million to prepare a site for an unspecified future benefit, while other priorities do without.
This is an expensive and highly visible project and should be approached with a higher expectation for public participation, transparency, detailed plans and timelines – and instead there is every appearance of "fire, aim, ready."
Since CBJ got the site in 2023 there appears to have been no consideration of the "leave it like it is" alternative. Consulting firm First Forty Feet presented four alternative visions, and "leave it like it is" was not one of the alternatives.
City Manager Katie Koester stated "They have not been properly maintained and are now plagued with mold, leaks, rotten floors and decks, and roofs that are failing." This is misleading.
First the RESPEC survey actually says that of the seven houses, three are "in fair condition for age," one "has some deterioration," and only three mention hazards to occupants. Second, from 1998 to 2022, when the properties were owned by the state and a tenant organization was the lessee, over $780,000 was spent on maintenance to comply with terms of the lease. It is misleading both to characterize the seven homes as unlivable/hazardous and to claim that they have not been maintained.
I am very much in favor of improving the availability of housing in Juneau. Personally I might be willing to trade the Telephone Hill neighborhood that I love for 150 units of housing. However I believe that commencing demolition without a plan is going to lead to less housing in Juneau, and an ugly site with a chain link fence for many years.
I beg the Assembly to postpone evictions and demolition until there is a plan.
• Larry Talley is a resident of Juneau.
