The Alaska Mental Health Trust is proceeding with plans to sell about 1 acre of land next to the Coast Guard station to a developer who intends to use the space for housing, commercial property and a plant to deliver hot-water heat across downtown Juneau.<\/p>\n
On Friday, the Trust published a public notice announcing its decision to sell the property to Develop Juneau Now LLC, a corporation owned by Keith Comstock, the president and CEO of Juneau Hydropower Inc.<\/p>\n
The notice appeared in the Empire and the Alaska Dispatch News.<\/p>\n
Under the trust\u2019s bylaws, the public can comment on the proposed sale for 20 days. Comments may be sent to mhtlo@alaska.gov before the end of the business day Jan. 16.<\/p>\n
Juneau Hydropower Inc. plans to construct a hydroelectric dam to generate electricity from Sweetheart Lake southeast of Juneau. Half the dam\u2019s power is earmarked for Kensington Gold Mine, and the other half is planned for a district heating system that would connect with existing oil-fired boilers across the city.<\/p>\n
The system would deliver hot water to those boilers, meaning they wouldn\u2019t have to burn oil to heat the homes and businesses that house them.<\/p>\n
MRV Architects is designing the building that will rise between Egan Drive and U.S. Coast Guard Station Juneau. <\/p>\n
According to documents provided by the Trust, the acre will sell for $1.3 million. In a previous interview with the Empire\u2019s Samuel DeGrave, Comstock said construction will cost an additional $12 million to $15 million \u2014 and that figure does not include the cost of a seawater heat pump and other infrastructure that will be used to generate hot water.<\/p>\n
If no public comments are received requesting reconsideration of the land sale, the sale will proceed under the direction of the Trust\u2019s executive director.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"