The Glory Hall is seeking a commercial tenant for its first floor in it’s downtown Juneau space.
The conversion of the building, which formerly served as the Glory Hall’s crisis shelter prior to its move into Mendenhall Valley in 2021, Mendenhall Valley in 2021, was started in November. After the work is finished it will include 7 affordable units of housing on the upper floors and a commercial space of 2,000 square feet downstairs.
Tom LeBlanc, with Carver Construction is in charge of the construction. On the third floor early on Thursday, he told reporters that the work is going well.
span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”All the framings are in place here,” he said. “Now they will start arriving – plumbers, electricians – and we’ve got some way to go. But so far, so good.”
Mariya Lovishchuk, executive director of the Glory Hall, said the building will include one-bedroom apartments with six units for efficiency. The Glory Hall’s Forget Me Not Manor located in Lemon Creek provides addiction treatment and other behavioral health services on the premises and in the downtown apartments, they are designed to accommodate tenants who do not require this kind of assistance.
“These units are expected be available to those who have a lower the median income for their area. These those who live there must be able to live on their own and effectively in these units without the assistance of a staff member on-site,” Lovishchuk said.
Lovishchuk expects tenants to be able to move in by June. The rent will be lower than fair market rent. In Juneau the fair market rate will be $1,138 in an efficient apartment and $1,307 for one-bedroom apartments. They also will accept vouchers for housing.
The span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”There are a lot of people in Juneau searching for housing whether vouchers or not, and they are unable to locate real housing units,” Lovishchuk said. “We hope to resolve even a tiny part in this .”
The downstairs area will feature an entire commercial kitchen however, Lovishchuk stated that they’re open to all businesses who are interested in helping the Glory Hall’s goal to provide housing. A commercial lease would help pay for rent for upstairs tenants.
“We’re trying to get somebody there before the season of tourism really starts to pick up,” she said.
Lovishchuk stated that tenant applications are expected to be available by April. People who are interested in commercial space can reach her via an email address: info@feedjuneau.org. A board committee will look over proposals and work out the lease.
