Tribe working with Tlingit Haida to put up rental duplex in town

No question housing is tight in town, and the Wrangell Cooperative Association is trying to help.

WCA already has used federal funds to build two single-family homes, which it sold to tribal members, and now is partnering with the Tlingit Haida Regional Housing Authority on a rental duplex.

WCA is interested in providing more housing to help ease the shortage in town, said Esther Aaltséen Reese, tribal administrator, last week. Any further development, however, will depend on funding, decisions by the tribal council and available lots, which are in short supply in Wrangell.

The Tlingit Haida Housing Authority building permit application to the borough lists the duplex at 2,736 square feet total for the two units on a 18,825-square-foot lot at the corner of Etolin Street and Wrangell Avenue, just off Pine Street and up from Zimovia Highway.

The borough issued the permit in March. Work has not yet started at the site.

The construction cost was estimated at $800,000 in the permit application.

Tlingit and Haida purchased the lot from the borough for $50,100 in 2021.

WCA worked with the housing authority to secure federal Indian Community Development Block Grant funding for the project — the same funding source as for the two single-family homes that went up earlier.

“There were just very good opportunities,” Reese said of the federal money, available land and Tlingit Haida assistance all lining up.

The housing authority will build the new duplex and WCA will operate the rental units, Reese explained.

The regional authority was founded in 1973. Its mission is “to meet the affordable housing needs of individuals and families in Southeast,” according to its website. WCA is one of 12 tribal partners in the housing effort.

In addition to rental properties around Southeast and offering homebuyer and repair assistance programs, Tlingit Haida owns and operates a 67-unit senior citizens independent-living apartment building in downtown Juneau.