Developer Opens Bidding on 'Holtan Hills' Lots, But Remains Mum on Details
A truck holds a sign while workers dug holes for posts Monday afternoon. (Photo by Soren Wuerth)
By Soren Wuerth
TNews Editor
In a process largely shrouded in secrecy, a developer announced last week that lots flagged in a hilly rainforest behind Girdwood school are open for reservations.
Questions crowd-sourced by Turnagain News and sent to the developer of "Holtan Hills" went unanswered as of Tuesday.
An advertisement that appeared in the Anchorage Daily News Saturday quickly generated a buzz in the community. The ad directed interested buyers to a website promoting reservations for 28 homesites.
"The past five years have been a challenge for both the community and myself as the developer," Connie Yoshimura writes on the page. Buyers can reserve up to two lots and "select their own builder and home design".
The application window lasts a business week, Monday through this Friday. The website does not indicate how buyers competing for lots will be chosen, only that a "certified drawing" will be held. Lot reservations are $5,000 and will be refunded if the potential buyer's lot is not chosen in the drawing.
Other than some flagging and survey stakes, there was little to indicate location of lots by Monday. (Photo by Soren Wuerth)
The website says a homeowners' association with "an elected board" will "protect its architectural value" but does not say whether and how it would manage properties to discourage short-term rentals and unoccupied residences.
An Anchorage Assembly ordinance requires regulation of short-term rentals through future bylaws of a homeowners' association, but also allows rejection of that restriction through a unanimous vote of the HOA.
On Monday morning the only people in the forest were mushroom pickers, who were dismayed to learn about a planned subdivision in the area. Later another person walked a trail speckled, here and there, with flagging.
She echoed sentiments from others in the community that without knowing the price of lots, it's hard to make a decision on whether to apply for a reservation for a lot, or two.
"What is the cost of each lot?" asked Shannon O'Brien on Girdwood's Facebook page. "That is an important part of choosing what lot to reserve. ...More information would make this process more realistic for buyers, especially those who are already stretching their finances."
Mushroom foragers discuss impacts of a subdivision in old-growth forest behind Girdwood K-8 School. (Photo by Soren Wuerth)
Though developer Connie Yoshimura had said construction would begin this summer barring an appeal to a planning department decision, old-growth rainforest behind Girdwood's school remained quiet.
Municipal officials referred questions regarding the delay to Yoshimura whose office offered little details and did not respond to follow-up questions.
A 117-word statement to Turnagain News in late June from "Holtan Hills LLC" said, "We are continuing to make steady progress on the project as we work through civil engineering and infrastructure design, including road, pathway, sewer, gas, and electric systems."
"Our team is working toward the next phase of the project, and we look forward to sharing additional details, including information regarding lot reservations, as they become available.
We appreciate your patience as we complete the approval process with the Municipality
of Anchorage Private Development Standards and the Anchorage Water and Wastewater Utility (AWWU), and we look forward to staying in touch," the developer wrote.
The development has been widely opposed in Girdwood. The controversial project was left for dead after the Anchorage Assembly voted to postpone it indefinitely in January 2022 only to be resurrected and approved over community objections a year later.
A map pulled on a phone shows locations of lots offered for reservations. (Photo by Soren Wuerth)
