Frequently Asked Questions

---

Holtan Hills is a newly proposed residential community that consists of 60.4 acres across three phases. This acreage is currently owned by the Municipality of Anchorage’s Heritage Land Bank (HLB) and will allow the creation of 58 housing units in its first phase. Holtan Hills offers a “mixed density” design of potential units including small-lot condominiums, townhouses, duplexes and four large-lot single family homes, creating options for different budgets. The community will also accommodate numerous accessory dwelling units (ADUs) that can provide direct opportunities for new, desperately needed workforce housing. 

CY Investments, LLC is the master developer of the proposed Holtan Hills community, with primary responsibility for securing planning and zoning approvals, as well as installing on-site infrastructure. CY Investments is not a homebuilder. The individual lots and homesites will be available to any homebuilder or private party, ensuring the most diverse opportunities for individual builders that otherwise would not be able to develop the entire community by themselves. All buyers will be required to follow the design criteria for the community ensuring its quality and aesthetics.

CY Investments, LLC is the master developer of Holtan Hills. Connie Yoshimura is a long-time Alaska resident and the sole shareholder of CY Investments. Over the course of 30 years of development, Mrs. Yoshimura has partnered with landowners and investors to develop more than 1,000 homesites across the Municipality of Anchorage and south-central Alaska. Some of those communities include Huffman Timbers, Potter Highlands, Sand Hill Reserve and the redevelopment of Coronado Park in Eagle River. Unlike most developers, Mrs. Yoshimura is not a homebuilder. Instead, she develops homesites that are “shovel ready” opportunities for private buyers and other homebuilders.

Heritage Land Bank (HLB) is an agency of the Municipality of Anchorage. According to their website​​​​, HLB’s mission is to ​​​​​“…manage uncommitted municipal land to benefit present and future residents of Anchorage, promote orderly development, and achieve the goals of the Comprehensive Plan.” In this mission, they identified the land referred to as Holtan Hills as a good opportunity to expand the local housing supply. Several attempts have been made to bring this land into productive use over the years. Among lands totaling more than 400 acres (identified in the original HLB Request for Proposal), CY Investments is proposing development of new residential units on only 60.4 acres in three phases over a period of multiple years. Heritage Land Bank will retain complete control over all remaining lands.

Holtan Hills provides the most immediate opportunity to develop new housing within a community that desperately needs it now. The Plat for Holtan Hills has already been approved by the platting board. Many residents are genuinely concerned about the impact of out-of-towners purchasing (and increasing the price of) the limited existing supply of local homes. Holtan Hills will create needed space on the housing ladder, offering new lots for home construction and relieving some of this pressure. The proposal will also offer significant new job opportunities and help grow the local retail economy.

The Housing Ladder consists of all housing units of various sizes, types and price points in a market. The more “rungs” that exist on the ladder, the more space it creates for residents seeking housing. Expanding the housing ladder creates new move-up opportunities for others already in the market. As current residents move into new homes, more housing capacity is made available in the homes they are vacating. This process repeats itself across all levels of the ladder. In Girdwood, there are simply not enough houses available, which is why so many local residents have already expressed interest in purchasing homes within Holtan Hills. 

The new community will expand capacity on the Housing Ladder with new “shovel ready” lots. As a part of the new Assembly resolutions formally disposing of the property, one of the multi-family lots will also be dedicated to the Girdwood community for the creation of an affordable housing development. Additionally, several of the individual lots will accommodate ADUs which can provide new workforce housing that is extremely limited right now.

Holtan Hills is being proposed as an innovative public-private partnership that offers substantial taxpayer protections. Heritage Land Bank (HLB) is making the land available for development, which is consistent with their mission. Entitlement of the project and development of on-site infrastructure like roads, water, sewer, gas and electric will be done under the leadership and financial responsibility of CY Investments. Proceeds from the development will be split 50-50 between the parties. If this project is not successful, CY Investments, not taxpayers, will bear the financial responsibility.

Trails are very important to Girdwood residents, just as they are to the developer of Holtan Hills. Trails will be formally integrated into the community including access to the Athabascan Trail and the Historic Iditarod Trail. As an example of this commitment, CY Investments is the only private developer to have built public trails, as they recently did with their partners in constructing a 1.5-mile trail in Potter Highlands.

Yes. Holtan Hills shall comply with any short-term rental ordinances adopted by the Anchorage Assembly. Additionally, Holtan Hills will be governed by community guidelines, design standards, vehicular parking restrictions and any supplemental rules related to short-term rental units as defined by the governing Homeowners Association. Finally, for any buyer to obtain a government-insured loan (FHA, VA) of a unit within a multi-family development, 50% or more of the units in that development MUST be owner occupied. This is an ongoing requirement for future buyers wishing to secure financing. To ensure that this level is maintained, a professional association manager hired by the Homeowners Association must complete a detailed questionnaire required by a buyer's mortgage lender certifying the number of owner-occupied, second homes, and rental units within the association.

Holtan Hills was identified in the Girdwood Area Plan, approved in 1995, as a location for residential development. After passage of the Crow Creek Neighborhood Plan, which further solidified the Holtan Hills area as residential development, Anchorage Water and Wastewater Utility (AWWU) installed a water line to support future residential development. 

Holtan Hills is the only "project ready '' housing development which can have an immediate positive impact on the goals set by the Assembly during their Fall 2023 Housing Summit, including:

• Expanded housing choices
• New Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs)
• Identification and use of publicly owned land (HLB)
• Increased public-private sharing of infrastructure costs

Girdwood needs new housing now. Each year we have fewer homes than the community needs, and Holtan Hills is the only meaningful opportunity to immediately address this. This process has already taken nearly three years and must still Include a lengthy technical, public and MOA planning review process. Calls for additional delays will worsen the problem. The Crow Creek Neighborhood Land Use Plan, which was adopted in 2006, called for the development of more housing, as well as the creation of a local housing authority to work to obtain grants for subsidized affordable housing. As it stands, there are eight separate entities and committees involved in Girdwood housing in some capacity. The answer lies in progress and streamlining the process, not further delays.

Holtan Hills is currently being evaluated by the Anchorage Assembly, which is tasked with authorizing the transfer of the land to CY Investments in a process called “Disposal”. This process requires public input, and nothing is more valuable in that process than an active community. You can help Girdwood receive the benefits of Holtan Hills by contacting us at Outreach@HoltanHills.com to learn more.