Robin Ward
Real Estate Department
by Suzanna Caldwell
Trying to increase housing options in Anchorage is one of the city’s biggest challenges, but for Robin Ward, it’s her passion.
With a grant from the Rasmuson Foundation, Ward has served as Chief Housing Officer for the Municipality of Anchorage (MOA) since March 2017. Her role, the first of its kind, is to find opportunities and eliminate barriers in order to create housing that is attractive, functional and affordable.
The Housing Director reports directly to the mayor and serves as the primary liaison between the MOA and private-sector housing developers to facilitate increased production of residential units in Anchorage.
She admits it’s a challenge, but after years working in the private sector she said it’s a “blessing” to work from the vantage point of the Municipality and to have access to the tools local government provides in expanding housing opportunities.
That’s meant going through city inventories of municipally owned land and finding opportunities to sell it. Or working to develop leases or sales for complicated properties like the downtown Elizabeth Place, a mixed-use property that will be built on lots that were previously owned by the MOA.
In one instance, Robin worked to get an act of Congress to secure land from the former midtown National Archives site which could one day be developed into mixed use residential and neighborhood office/retail that will be compatible with Cuddy Park.
Ward believes Real Estate has ripple effects. When you offer housing to people, not only do you increase the tax base but you also improve the quality of life for everyone in our community.
“It’s the ultimate challenge,” she said of her work to improve housing in the Municipality, “but it’s also the most rewarding.”
When she’s not negotiating complex real estate transactions, in her spare time Ward likes spending time with her eight grandchildren, playing golf all over the world and gardening.
