Downtown Anchorage Legislative Information Office (LIO) Building

The downtown Anchorage Legislative Information Office (LIO) Building was originally known as the Alaska State Legislature Building. It was completed in 2014 after the older LIO building was reduced to its frame and rebuilt. The concrete, steel, and glass building was supposed to host the offices of Anchorage-based legislators, just as the older building once did. The six-story Modernist building contains over 68,000 square feet of office space. The new LIO is provisioned to serve as a second home for the area’s legislators and their staff. Given the vast distance between Alaska’s state capital, Juneau, and Anchorage, local legislators have long conducted meetings and even some official business from their Anchorage offices. This also provided the most direct and accessible way for the legislators to meet with their constituents between and out of the session.

The building was designed by KPB Architects and financed by the developer Mark Pfeffer. The new LIO required the near demolition of the former building and the replacement of its interior, exterior concrete walls, mechanical infrastructure, plumbing, electrical, sprinklers, and a single elevator. In its place, the Pfeffer Development Group, KPB Architects, Criterion General Inc. Contractors, and area engineering and design firms replaced the concrete exterior with glass and updated the building's mechanical, technical, and energy systems. The former building, known for its staid concrete design and small windows gave way to a high-performance glass curtain wall and aluminum mullions during the renovation. The updated building is also equipped to handle greater levels of seismic activity. In addition, the renovation added 24,000 square feet to the structure. The cost of the renovations and the intended final price tag of the building is a matter of legal dispute. The rebuilt structure likely cost between $7-8 million, but the property itself was to be leased for $33 million.

Just as the building was scheduled to reopen, however, Alaska entered into a significant economic recession, initiated by a steep decline in the price of oil and the attendant revenue that the state relied upon to fund its operations. The Anchorage LIO quickly became a political white elephant. Notably, a member of the Alaska State Legislature was accused of negotiating the lease for the building at a rate above the market value. So fierce was the backlash, both to the lease but also the alleged extravagance of the upgraded building, that the legislature never fully moved into the building. Some of the features that drew the most ire among the public were an outdoor roof gathering space, high-speed elevator, and electronically operated wastebaskets. The optics of legislators moving into space with high-end finishes and state-of-the-art design flourishes seemed at odds with Alaska’s economic woes. Within a year the legislature had still not completely adopted their new home, and soon after the LIO sat vacant. The state moved to effectively annul its lease with the developer. 

After a series of lawsuits and political hearings, the LIO went up for sale. The Anchorage Community Development Authority (ACDA) purchased the building for $14 million, under half the cost the legislature expected, and about $4 million under the appraised value of the property. The ACDA in turn has offered the building for use by the Anchorage Police Department, which houses offices, evidence, and contraband, and seized property within the secured building. Anchorage’s delegation to the Alaska Legislature has instead repurposed and leased the former office building owned by Wells Fargo to meet with constituents and conduct state affairs. That building is located about two miles south. At present, there are no plans for the LIO to be used for its intended purpose. A judge ruled that the legislature was not liable for backing out of a ten-year $33 million lease; the development group thus lost their $37 million claims against the State of Alaska.