CIRI mum about details of Old Trunk Road project

PALMER — While the basic site leveling is nearly complete, CIRI Land Development Co. still isn’t saying what’s planned for its parcel of property off of Old Trunk Road.

CIRI spokesperson Jim Jager said now that the dirt work is done, the Alaska Native Corp. will begin looking for a tenant.

“I’m not being specific because I don’t know,” he said.

Jager said the company plans call for a project on the parcel that includes retail development with other business and maybe some residential, too.

“We’re doing dirt work in preparation for future construction,” he said.

Jager said CIRI intends the project to offer high value over the long-term.

“It’s our intention to own it and not to flip it in five years,” he said.

It’s no accident CIRI has projects planned in the Mat-Su Valley.

“We see the Mat-Su as a growth area,” Jager said. “You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure that out.”

However, he said people will still see the same equipment and contractor working in the area since Scarsella Brothers Inc. won the bid to do CIRI’s site leveling work as well as the bid to complete Phase II of the Trunk Road extension and upgrade project.