Anchorage officials say a planned buildup of Anchorage’s Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson will both boost the city’s economy and strain the city’s already tight housing market.
The city is preparing for an expected $7 billion in military money over the next five years. It’s for a program called “Fightertown Recapitalization,” part of a federal defense budget bill sponsored by Sen. Dan Sullivan.
Nolan Klouda, with the Anchorage mayor’s office, said while the bill is not yet signed, conversations with federal policymakers and military leaders have convinced the mayor’s office that the project is a high priority.
The money would be a huge investment in the city, he said.
“At the same time, there's a lot that we have to plan for and prepare for in order to make the most of it,” he said.
Anchorage officials are expecting about 2,500 military families over the next five years, Klouda said. JBER housing is at capacity, and Klouda said that while there are plans to build more barracks on the base, most military families will be settling in Anchorage.
Anchorage already has a housing shortage, and the mayor’s office has been working toward constructing or rehabilitating 10,000 homes over the next decade. With the influx of military personnel, the city will need far more than that, Klouda said.
“There is a risk of increasing housing prices when you have an influx of people, absolutely,” he said. “And so that's something that we're very focused on mitigating by getting more supply of housing built.”
The city is already working hard to increase the speed and predictability of housing construction, Klouda said. The administration has removed red tape and created tax incentives. The city had issued more building permits by the middle of August than all of 2025. But the expected military influx adds real urgency, he said, and the city has ramped up its housing efforts. The mayor’s office is working with the village corporation Eklutna Inc. to develop land close to JBER, and looking at ways to expand subdivision development in Anchorage.
The Anchorage Assembly also has some plans in the works to boost housing, including a rework of a controversial zoning proposal put on hold by the LaFrance administration last fall.
In early August the Anchorage Assembly unanimously approved a LaFrance-sponsored resolution to support efforts to increase the supply of housing throughout the city, in reaction to the military recapitalization.
Klouda said the buildup will impact other sectors as well. The municipality will see more demand on infrastructure and services like transit, schools and emergency response.
