23-25 Alaska Street

Developed by Caritas Communities, 23-25 Alaska Street is a lodging house affordable to the low-wage working individual that provides clean, safe and furnished rooms with shared common spaces. The project is the gut rehab and transformation of an historical building for 17 SRO units, including a caretaker’s unit and an accessible unit, each with a full bath.

Five new shed roof dormers were added to the building to provide adequate headroom for the third-floor units in order to make them liveable space. The building includes a shared kitchen and lounge, new accessible ramp, and bicycle storage. The exterior envelope is designed to meet Energy Star standards for insulation and air infiltration, and the project also includes high-efficiency heating systems, lights, appliances, and water-saving plumbing fixtures. Based on an analysis of the building’s construction, the project received a “5 Star Plus” rating based on the achieved HERS Index of 65, meaning that the home is 35% more energy-efficient than the HERS Reference Home.