Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson and the Assembly want to start moving dozens of people who are homeless into the former Golden Lion Hotel starting in a few weeks.
The city leaders announced the timeline at a news conference on Tuesday. The move comes as the city prepares to close the mass shelter at the Sullivan Arena, and searches for alternative housing options for the hundreds of people staying there.
Assembly members are exploring the option of temporarily extending the use of the Sullivan beyond the end of the month, specifically for people with the most severe mobility, mental health and behavioral health issues.
People with mobility issues would transition into the Golden Lion in a few weeks, according to Anchorage Homelessness Coordinator Alexis Johnson.
“We will be asking for an appropriation of the continuation of the Sullivan so we have a seamless transition,” she said.
Currently about 350 people are using the Sullivan for shelter, with more than 100 using a warming area.
The former Golden Lion would operate similarly to recently repurposed hotels like the Guest House and Barratt Inn, which were also converted into low-income housing. Unlike the Sullivan, residents would pay rent at the Golden Lion, though city officials say many would likely qualify for rent assistance.
Johnson said the Golden Lion has 85 units available, and the city is working with community partners to find housing for others.
“We do know that there will be an unsheltered population this summer,” Johnson said, “and we’re working with the Coalition [to End Homelessness] to limit the impact on campers and unsheltered people and also the constituents and city as far as public safety goes.”
The Golden Lion has been a political football since Bronson campaigned for mayor in 2021. Assembly members had hoped to use the building, which was purchased using funds from the sale of a municipal electric utility, as a substance misuse treatment facility for homeless people. Bronson opposed that plan, vowing to sell the building if elected.
Midtown Assembly member Felix Rivera chairs the body’s Housing and Homelessness Committee. He said while the Assembly does still hope to have a treatment facility, the current need for housing is greater.
“We will continue to have the debate about using the former Golden Lion as treatment into the future,” Rivera said. “But for right now, the need that we know we have in the community is housing, and so that is what we are working collaboratively with the administration to achieve.”
Assembly members are set to vote Tuesday night on whether to put roughly $1 million toward fixing up the Golden Lion, with $250,000 set to come from the city’s alcohol tax fund.
Officials say they haven’t decided on whether they’ll change the name of the building from Golden Lion to something else.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the funds used to buy the Golden Lion. The city used money from the sale of a municipal electric utility, not from federal COVID-19 relief.
Wesley Early covers Anchorage life and city politics for Alaska Public Media. Reach him at wearly@alaskapublic.org and follow him on X at @wesley_early. Read more about Wesley here.
