The downtown building formerly known as Duke’s 8th Avenue Hotel is undergoing a major renovation to become Qanchi Place.

Although the website is still live, Duke’s 8th Avenue hotel has been permanently closed and the building at 630 W 8th Ave has been undergoing a radical transformation into Qanchi Place, a project by Cook Inlet Housing Authority.

Nothing has been publicly released about this project but Qanchi Place will potentially be a housing development that uses the mixed-income model of similar projects like Elizabeth Place, the first residential project downtown Anchorage has seen in decades.

The building, constructed in 1961 is a four-story concrete block structure with 28 living units situated on a 20K SF lot with off-street parking. Structural work is being done by Reid Middleton and architecture/design by Spark Design – Deanna Wlad.

Located just South of the Dena’ina Center, the development may feature a mixed-use model that adds retail or office space to the ground level, but that remains to be seen.