Location | Anchorage, Alaska, United States |
---|---|
Address | 1299 North Muldoon Road, Anchorage, AK 99504 |
Developer | Browman Development Company, Inc. |
Owner | CIRI |
No. of anchor tenants | 9 |
Total retail floor area | 900,000 square feet (84,000 m2) |
Tikahtnu Commons is a 900,000 square foot power center located on a 95-acre parcel in Anchorage, Alaska, United States. It is owned by Cook Inlet Region, Inc. , an Alaska Native corporation and Browman Development Company, a California corporation. The shopping center consists of several large anchor stores, dozens of smaller restaurants, shops and services, and a 16-screen Regal Cinemas theater. [1] Tikahtnu is the word for Cook Inlet in the Dena'ina language. Tikahtnu Commons is home to many firsts for Alaska, including the state's first Kohl's, PetSmart and IMAX theater. [2] It is the largest shopping center in the state and is even large by national comparison. The International Council of Shopping Centers states that power centers in the United States typically range from 250,000 to 600,000 square feet (23,000 to 56,000 m2) with an average of 420,160 square feet (39,034 m2). [3] Construction of the center began in 2007 and by the summer of 2015, it had been developed to roughly 98% capacity. [4] Anchors include Lowes, Old Navy, Petsmart, Kohls, Burlington, Target, Best Buy, Regal Cinemas, and Costco. [5]
Tikahtnu Commons sits just 3 miles east of Glenn Square, which is another power center that was developed concurrently on the same stretch of freeway. [6]
The northern portion of Muldoon Road evolved into one of the Anchorage area's major retail districts during the 1960s and 1970s, mainly due to the neighborhood's proximity to Elmendorf Air Force Base and Fort Richardson (which merged in 2010 to form Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson. The tract of land on which Tikahtnu Commons sits was previously a part of Elmendorf Air Force Base. This tract and other military lands in the northeast corner of the "Anchorage bowl" were ceded to Cook Inlet Region as part of its entitlement under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act; a tract to the east was developed as Alaska Native Heritage Center. Cook Inlet Region operated this tract as the Anchorage RV Park for over a decade before redeveloping it as a shopping area.
A number of factors influenced the development of Tikahtnu Commons. The Muldoon Road retail district had greatly expanded during the late 20th and early 21st century as a result of the construction of a Fred Meyer store at the intersection of Muldoon with DeBarr Road, Walmart's purchase of the property of a defunct construction company to the west of Fred Meyer, plus the redevelopment of the large Alaskan Village mobile home park to the south of those two properties into the Muldoon Town Center, including Begich Middle School. The location of Tikahtnu Commons along the Glenn Highway was also designed to attract shoppers from along the highway's corridor, owing to the failure of Eagle River's Valley River Center and Wasilla's Cottonwood Creek Mall. Both malls were crippled by Safeway's acquisition of competing chain Carrs Quality Centers and subsequent moves of those community's Safeway stores out of those malls and into existing Carrs locations. The Valley River Center was redeveloped as Eagle River's Town Center, while the Cottonwood Creek Mall was demolished and replaced with a Target store. The replacement of the Elmendorf Air Force Base hospital and relocation of Anchorage's VA facilities to a site next door, coupled with Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson's Joint Military Mall approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) to the west, has also made this portion of Anchorage a destination for military, dependents and veterans, many of whom live in east Anchorage and in communities along the Glenn Highway.
Tikahtnu Commons has replaced the Northway Mall and surrounding area as east Anchorage's major shopping district; Red Robin and Sam's Club, among others, have closed their east Anchorage locations just to reopen at Tikahtnu Commons. This repeats a pattern of decades prior, when the development of the Northway Mall and adjacent properties during the 1980s eclipsed the retail district along Mountain View Drive. The Mountain View neighborhood boomed primarily during the 1950s and 1960s when Mountain View Drive served as the western end of the Glenn Highway, prior to the construction of the present-day freeway. The Regal Cinemas also replaced the Fireweed Theatre in the northeast corner of midtown Anchorage, which opened in 1965, itself replacing cinemas in downtown Anchorage which were damaged or destroyed during the 1964 earthquake. The Fireweed Theatre closed in 2010 and was subsequently demolished; Cook Inlet Region redeveloped the property at the same time as it was finishing development of Tikahtnu Commons.
Tikahtnu Commons sits just off the busy Glenn Highway at its intersection with Muldoon Road. The increased traffic drawn by the center has created concerns with the interchange of the two roads, which was built in the 1970s. North Muldoon Road, formerly Oilwell Road, is used as the primary access to the shopping center, Bartlett High School, the Alaska Native Heritage Center and also leads to one of the gates of Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson. [7] A new interchange was constructed in 2016. [8] The Sam's Club closed in 2018 when all of the Sam's Club locations in Alaska were closed. [9] In 2022, Costco announced plans to remodel the former Sam's Club building to become Alaska's first Costco Business Center. [10]
Cook Inlet stretches 180 miles (290 km) from the Gulf of Alaska to Anchorage in south-central Alaska. Cook Inlet branches into the Knik Arm and Turnagain Arm at its northern end, almost surrounding Anchorage. On its southern end, it merges with Shelikof Strait, Stevenson Entrance, Kennedy Entrance and Chugach Passage.
The Richardson Highway is a highway in the U.S. state of Alaska, running 368 miles (562 km) and connecting Valdez to Fairbanks. It is marked as Alaska Route 4 from Valdez to Delta Junction and as Alaska Route 2 from there to Fairbanks. It also connects segments of Alaska Route 1 between the Glenn Highway and the Tok Cut-Off. The Richardson Highway was the first major road built in Alaska.
The Glenn Highway is a highway in the U.S. state of Alaska, extending 179 miles (288 km) from Anchorage near Merrill Field to Glennallen on the Richardson Highway. The Tok Cut-Off is often considered part of the Glenn Highway, for a total length of 328 miles (528 km).
The Port of Alaska (POA) is a deep-water port in Anchorage, Alaska, with three bulk carrier berths, two petroleum berths, and one barge berth. The name was changed from "Port of Anchorage" to the "Port of Alaska" in 2017. It is an enterprise department of the Municipality of Anchorage. It is distinguished from other types of municipal departments largely because it generates enough revenue to support its operations without being a burden to Anchorage property tax payers, and it also pays a fee-in-lieu of taxes to help run city government.
Eagle River is a community within the Municipality of Anchorage situated on the Eagle River, for which it is named, between Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER) and Chugach State Park in the Chugach Mountains. Its ZIP code is 99577. Settled by homesteaders, Eagle River has been annexed to the Municipality of Anchorage since the 1970s—a relationship that is, at times, complicated. On the one hand, Eagle River functions as an Anchorage suburb--many Eagle River residents work, shop, and participate in community life in the Anchorage Bowl. On the other hand, the community is itself a significant business hub between Wasilla and Anchorage, offering shopping, restaurants, recreation and employment. Much of the community is made up of residents from nearby Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. Secession efforts have from time to time gained traction by residents who would like Eagle River legally regarded as a separate community. Eagle River also has a close relationship with its neighboring community to the north, Chugiak, with which it shares some history. If Eagle River were not part of the Municipality of Anchorage, it would be classified as one of the five largest cities in Alaska.
The Dimond Center is a regional shopping mall in Anchorage, Alaska, United States, located on the southwest corner of East Dimond Boulevard and the Old Seward Highway in south Anchorage. This is the largest enclosed mall in the state of Alaska, though the open-air Tikahtnu Commons in NE Anchorage has a greater GLA.
West Anchorage High School is a public high school in Anchorage, Alaska. The school is part of the Anchorage School District (ASD). Opened in 1953, West is the oldest of ASD's eight major high schools. Serving the western parts of downtown and midtown Anchorage, in 2020-2021 it had an enrollment of 1,754.This makes West Anchorage High School the high school with the highest student enrollment in Alaska, edging East Anchorage High School out by 44 students, which enrolled 1,710 students.
Fort Richardson is a United States Army installation in the U.S. State of Alaska, adjacent to the city of Anchorage. In 2010, it was merged with nearby Elmendorf Air Force Base to form Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
Mat-Su Regional Medical Center is a 125-bed general hospital in the U.S. state of Alaska. The hospital is owned by Community Health Systems (CHS). Located in the Gateway census-designated place, between Palmer and Wasilla, it is the principal hospital for the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. Owing to its location a short distance from the interchange of the Glenn and Parks Highways, Mat-Su Regional serves as a principal hospital for many of the Glenn Highway communities in northern Anchorage, such as Chugiak, Eagle River, Eklutna and Peters Creek.
Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Matanuska-Susitna Borough, had a population of 398,328 in 2020, accounting for more than half the state's population. At 1,706 sq mi (4,420 km2) of land area, the city is the fourth-largest by area in the U.S.
Government Hill is a neighborhood in the northwest part of Anchorage, Alaska, United States, sitting in between Anchorage's downtown area and the western reaches of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, specifically the portion formerly known as Elmendorf Air Force Base. The neighborhood is named for the "hill" it sits on of about 115 feet (35 m) bearing the same name, which is actually a bluff which rises alongside the northern banks of Ship Creek. The origins of the name date to 1915, when a federal land reserve was created in the area for the Alaska Engineering Commission, then heavily involved in constructing the Alaska Railroad nearby.
The Eagle River is a stream, 40 miles (64 km) long, in Anchorage, Alaska. Heading at Eagle Glacier in Chugach State Park, it flows northwest into Eagle Bay on the Knik Arm of Cook Inlet, 9 miles (14 km) northeast of downtown Anchorage.
Glenn Square is a 250,000 square foot power center located on a 25-acre parcel in the Mountain View neighborhood of Anchorage, Alaska, United States. The center consists of a collection of small shops and eateries and several large anchor stores; the most prominent being an 80,000 ft2 Bass Pro Shops Outpost. The center's name is derived from the Glenn Highway, whose western terminus is near the southern property line. It sits across the Glenn Highway from and supplements the Northway Mall, a major shopping area in Anchorage since its development during the early 1980s.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Anchorage, Alaska, United States.
The Spring Creek Lodge is a historic former restaurant at 18389 Old Glenn Highway in the Chugiak area of Anchorage, Alaska. Vernon and Alma Haik built the Spring Creek Lodge in 1949. It served as an essential eatery and community center in southcentral Alaska from 1949 to 1974. The lodge was famous for its homemade bread and banana cream pies, and it was the place to go for a hearty Sunday dinner. For 25 years, the lodge served homesteaders, hunters from the Matanuska Valley, and military personnel from the Elmendorf Air Force Base and Fort Richardson in Anchorage. The lodge stands at Mile 20 on the two-lane Palmer Highway halfway between Palmer and Anchorage. It also served as the first community center for the early settlers of Chugiak. On September 9, 2001, the Spring Creek Lodge was inducted to the National Register of Historic Places "in recognition of its contributions to the cultural heritage of Alaska." The restaurant was a local landmark until its location was bypassed by the new Glenn Highway in 1969, after which it closed.
Chester Creek is one of several streams that flow through the city of Anchorage, Alaska. It runs for 21 miles (34 km) from the Chugach Mountains to the Knik Arm of Cook Inlet.
Muldoon is a major neighborhood on the east side of Anchorage, Alaska. It is named for Muldoon Road, the most significant north–south thoroughfare in the northeast portion of Anchorage proper. Muldoon Road was named for Arnold L. Muldoon (1909–1985), a Wisconsin native of Irish descent who settled in the area during the early 1940s and originally built the road as a dirt track to connect to the existing road network at the Glenn Highway. Most of Muldoon's growth over the decades has been tied to development at the Anchorage area's two major military installations, Elmendorf Air Force Base and Fort Richardson, which were combined in 2010 to form the current Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
Mountain View is a neighborhood in northeast Anchorage, Alaska, with approximately 7,300 residents. Mountain View is one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the United States. It is between the Glenn Highway and Elmendorf Air Force Base, west of McCarrey Street and east of Post Road. It is a working-class neighborhood, with a median household income of approximately $51,000 and a poverty rate of approximately 26%.
On November 30, 2018, at 8:29 a.m. AKST (17:29 UTC), a magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit Anchorage in South Central Alaska. The earthquake's epicenter was near Point Mackenzie, about 10 miles (16 km) north of Anchorage, and occurred at a depth of 29 miles (47 km). It was followed six minutes later by a magnitude 5.7 aftershock centered 2.5 miles (4.0 km) north-northwest of the municipality. The earthquake could be felt as far away as Fairbanks.