The cold weather emergency shelter previously run by the City and Borough of Juneau will be operated this winter by St. Vincent de Paul Juneau in the St. Vincent de Paul Community Center at 8617 Teal Street. The Juneau Assembly on October 14 approved a bid award of $125,000 to SVdP to provide facility space, management, and staffing for the cold weather emergency shelter.

Starting this Saturday and Sunday, November 9-10, SVdP plans to open the shelter on nights 32 degrees or below from 11 p.m. to 6:30 a.m.

SVdP plans to announce 2-3 days in advance when the shelter will open. Notifications will be posted on the SVdP website and Twitter (@warmingshelter). People can also look for signs that light up when the shelter is open at City Hall, SVdP, Polaris House, Resurrection Lutheran Church, and the SVdP Thrift Store.

SVdP is offering a shuttle to the cold weather emergency shelter that will operate after Capital Transit bus service ends. The shuttle will run on the hour until 2 a.m. through Mendenhall Valley, Lemon Creek and Downtown Juneau. See the schedule here.

Additional information about the shelter is available on the SVdP website: https://svdpjuneau.org/cold-weather-emergency-shelter/

For more information, contact CBJ Housing & Homelessness Coordinator Jesse Perry at 586-0623 or [email protected].

The City and Borough of Juneau is looking for a senior assisted living housing developer for the recently acquired property in the Vintage Business Park. CBJ has just released a sealed competitive bid packet with a November 21 deadline. The intent is to meet long-standing community and senior housing goals noted in the Juneau Senior Housing & Services Market Demand Study and the CBJ Housing Action Plan.

In August, CBJ purchased 2.35 acres of vacant land on the Mendenhall River in the Vintage Business Park dedicated for senior assisted living. The city paid $1.52 million; an April 18, 2019 appraisal report showed a fair market valuation of $1.86 million. The property is situated close to retail and grocery stores, a library, an aquatic center, fitness clubs, restaurants, churches, and transportation options.

Developers will be asked to submit a purchase or lease bid for the property along with a detailed senior assisted living housing and memory care proposal. The proposal should highlight the team’s experience and capacity developing and operating senior assisted living projects. It should also provide a project design and development concept that maximizes use of the site, and includes a full project pro forma and timeline. A registration fee of $500 is required for each bid form and proposal.

Prior to purchasing the land, the Juneau Assembly adopted an ordinance in July to address senior housing goals. The ordinance provides property tax abatement for assisted living developments that create 15 or more new residential units. The property tax abatement exempts property taxes in excess of 2.65 mils for the full value of newly constructed units for twelve years.

There will be a site visit and briefing on Tuesday, October 15 at 10 a.m. Sealed bids, proposals, and registration fee must be received by Thursday, November 21, 2019 prior to 2 p.m. Alaska Time.

For more details, go here or contact CBJ Chief Housing Officer Scott Ciambor at 907-586-0220 or [email protected].

The City and Borough of Juneau is pleased to announce that Jesse Perry is the new Housing and Homelessness Services Coordinator. His first day was September 16. Perry takes over for Irene Gallion, who’s now a senior planner with the Community Development Department.

Perry moves over from CBJ Docks and Harbors, where he worked as a Harbor Officer at the Port. He looks forward to the upcoming challenge of assisting the community with housing and homeless solutions.

“Working at the Port allowed me to get to know many of the homeless in our community, and I am honored to work with them and with our community partners to address a basic need of our most vulnerable citizens,” Perry said.

Prior to working at CBJ, Perry was a minister and educator. He first came to Juneau in 2005 to be the pastor at Northern Light United Church. Perry holds a Master of Divinity degree from San Francisco Theological Seminary. He has directed international programs at Southeast Missouri State University and taught writing courses at the University of Alaska Southeast.

For more information, contact Chief Housing Officer Scott Ciambor at 586-0443 or [email protected].

The City and Borough of Juneau has purchased 2.35 acres of land in Vintage Park that will solely be used for senior assisted living. Demand for assisted living is strong in Juneau, according to the “Juneau Senior Housing and Services Market Demand Study.”

“Community efforts to create more assisted living housing opportunities for Juneau residents has been ongoing for almost a decade. Securing the property for this purpose is a big step toward making it a reality,” Chief Housing Officer Scott Ciambor said.

Assisted living is defined as a residential setting where staff is available 24 hours a day to help individuals with activities of daily living. The number of Juneau residents age 85 and older, the demographic that tends to require the highest level of long-term care, is expected to increase almost fivefold to about 1,400 by 2042, the study says. Assisted living options available for seniors in Juneau, other than the Pioneer Home, are scarce to nonexistent.

CBJ purchased the property for about $1.5 million. At the August 26 Assembly Committee of the Whole meeting, the Assembly will discuss the process of selling the property in a manner that attracts a senior assisted living housing developer.

For more information, contact CBJ Chief Housing Officer Scott Ciambor at 586-0220 or [email protected].