Girdwood South Townsite Master Plan

Project Date: 2007-present
Project Manager:Ellen Campfield Nelson
Client: Heritage Land Bank (Municipality of Anchorage)
Location: Girdwood

Project Description

Located about 40 miles south of Anchorage on Turnagain Arm, Girdwood is a small town with the potential to grow into a world-class year-round resort community. Residents cherish the community's friendly small-town atmosphere and ready access to the valley's mostly undeveloped forests and mountains, as well as world-class terrain at Alyeska Resort, Alaska's largest developed ski area. The community and the Municipality of Anchorage have been working together for over 10 years to shape Girdwood’s growth in ways that will accommodate the need for new housing and commercial development within ecological constraints and at the same time protecting the area’s rural character and access to open space.

As part of this effort, Agnew::Beck was hired to work with the community to prepare an area master plan for approximately 220 Municipally owned acres in Girdwood's New Townsite Commercial District. The area is just south of the Alyeska Highway directly across from the existing New Girdwood Townsite and includes the area sometimes called "the Squirrel Cages." Through this planning process, the Girdwood community prioritized its development needs, determined how appropriate the land is for different development types in both ecological and economic terms, agreed upon uses for the land, and adopted a master plan. The preferred master plan and accompanying impact assessment have been adopted by the Girdwood Board of Supervisors, the Heritage Land Bank Advisory Board, the Anchorage Planning and Zoning Commission, and the Anchorage Assembly.