Sixty-three parcels of undeveloped land across the state are up for sale as part of the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority’s Fall Land Sale.
In Southeast Alaska, parcels are for sale in the areas surrounding Ketchikan, Petersburg, Sitka and Wrangell. In some cases the plots are in remote areas with no access to roads or infrastructure.
According to the trust’s website, parcels are to be accepted “as is” and “where is” with “no guarantees, expressed or implied, as to its suitability for any intended use.”
The three parcels for sale in Ketchikan Gateway Borough for example, are roughly 20 miles northwest of the Ketchikan in the Upper George Inlet. They are not on the water and have no constructed road access. The trust’s website says that individual generators are needed for electricity and water is “typically obtained by private onsite cistern system.”
A photo from the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority website showing an aerial view of the parcels of land for sale during the Fall Land Sale near the Upper George Inlet northwest of Ketchikan. (Courtesy photo)
Plots will be sold to the highest bidder in a sealed bid submission process. The trust began accepting sealed bids Sept. 9 and will finish Nov. 12. Bids will be opened Nov. 14 at the Trust Land Office in Anchorage.
Each plot has a minimum bid amount. In Southeast, the most expensive is a waterfront plot 8.5 miles south of Petersburg with road and electric infrastructure access for $112,000. The least expensive one of the Upper George Inlet parcels mentioned above for $12,400.
The land sale began in 1998, according to AMHTA Chief Communications Officer Allison Biastock. Some of the parcels may have been for sale before and either not sold or turned back due to default on a contract, she told the Empire in an email.
In 2018, proceeds from the land sale totaled just over $980,000, Biastock said.
Proceeds from the sale will fund AMHTA’s programs that serve Alaskans with a broad range of mental health issues.
• Contact reporter Peter Segall at 523-2228 or psegall@juneauempire.com.
