Mayor LaFrance’s 10,000 Homes Strategy fuels momentum as Anchorage residential permitting outpaces recent years

Today, the Municipality of Anchorage released new permitting data showing that Mayor Suzanne LaFrance's 10,000 Homes in 10 Years strategy is driving significant momentum, putting local residential construction on track to surpass last year.

Just past the midway point of 2026, the Municipality has already issued building permits for more residential units than in all of 2024, backed by a $75 million surge in local construction activity and a reduction in permit review times.

At 330 housing units permitted for construction so far this year, Anchorage has reached 82% of its total permit volume for 2025. Additionally, permit valuations have already outpaced last year's levels-hitting 118% of 2025's valuation and representing an additional $75 million committed to the Anchorage economy compared to last year's record-setting pace. Permit valuations are an indicator of economic health. Larger values signal robust future growth and real dollars being invested directly into local neighborhoods.

"While there's still more work to do, these milestones show that our efforts to cut red tape and open the throttle on housing are working," said Mayor Suzanne LaFrance. "With billions of dollars in investment coming to JBER, we know we need about 2,500 more homes in the next five years to support our military community. To build a strong economy, grow our workforce, and support our neighborhoods, making it easier to build and rehabilitate housing of all types is mission-critical."

The 10,000 Homes strategy calls for both new construction and substantial rehabilitation of aging properties to preserve current housing stock. Last year, Anchorage achieved approximately 70% of its annual progress goal of 1,000 new and rehabbed homes, issuing construction permits for 400 new units alongside at least 300 major home renovations that preserved and modernized existing homes.

A significant portion of this year's newly permitted units consists of multi-family housing, such as apartments and condominiums. Many of these units were made possible by the LaFrance administration's new multi-family tax incentive.

To sustain this momentum at the Permit Center, the administration moved quickly earlier this summer to address administrative bottlenecks and relieve pressure.

Through targeted policy directives, staff cross-training, hiring additional plan reviewers, and utilizing temporary contractors, the Municipality has significantly reduced review time turnarounds:

• Residential zoning review periods have been cut in half, dropping from 10 business days to just 5.
• Commercial zoning review periods have been cut by a third, dropping from over 30 business days to 20.

Community members and builders can track real-time progress on residential permits by visiting the Municipality's online housing permit dashboard.

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Contact: Emily Goodykoontz [email protected] 1 (907) 205-6683 ​

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