Tikahtnu Commons facts for kids
A view of northern Anchorage, Alaska from Arctic Valley in April 2009. You can see the start of Tikahtnu Commons in the front. Stores like Best Buy, Target, Sports Authority, Kohl's, and Lowe's are visible. Downtown Anchorage and Merrill Field are in the background.
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| Location | Anchorage, Alaska, United States |
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| Address | 1299 North Muldoon Road, Anchorage, AK 99504 |
| Developer | Browman Development Company, Inc. |
| Owner | CIRI |
| No. of anchor tenants | 9 |
| Total retail floor area | 900,000 square feet (84,000 m2) |
Tikahtnu Commons is a very large shopping area in Anchorage, Alaska, United States. It covers 95 acres and has about 900,000 square feet of space. This huge center is owned by Cook Inlet Region, Inc. (CIRI). CIRI is an Alaska Native corporation, which means it's a business owned by Alaska Native people.
Tikahtnu Commons has many big main stores, called "anchor stores." It also has lots of smaller restaurants, shops, and services. There's even a large 16-screen Regal Cinemas movie theater. The name Tikahtnu comes from the Dena'ina language. It means "Cook Inlet," which is a large body of water near Anchorage.
This shopping center brought many "firsts" to Alaska. It was the first place in the state to have a Kohl's store. It also got the first PetSmart and the first IMAX movie theater in Alaska. Tikahtnu Commons is the biggest shopping center in Alaska owned by just one company. It's even big compared to other shopping centers across the United States. Construction on Tikahtnu Commons started in 2007. By 2015, almost all of the shopping area was built and open.
Tikahtnu Commons is located just 3 miles east of another large shopping area called Glenn Square. Both of these centers were built around the same time along the same main road.
How Tikahtnu Commons Began
The area around Muldoon Road in northern Anchorage became a popular shopping spot in the 1960s and 1970s. This was mainly because it was close to Elmendorf Air Force Base (EAFB) and Fort Richardson. These two military bases later joined together in 2010 to form JBER.
The land where Tikahtnu Commons now stands used to be part of EAFB. This land was given to CIRI as part of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. This act gave land to Alaska Native corporations. For over ten years, CIRI used this land as an RV park. Then, they decided to turn it into the shopping center you see today.
Many things helped Tikahtnu Commons get built. The Muldoon Road shopping area was already growing a lot. A Fred Meyer store was built there, and Walmart also opened nearby. An old mobile home park was redeveloped into the Muldoon Town Center. This new center included Begich Middle School.
Tikahtnu Commons was also built to attract shoppers from along the Glenn Highway. This was because some older malls in nearby towns like Eagle River and Wasilla were not doing well. For example, the Cottonwood Creek Mall was torn down and replaced with a Target store.
The area also became a popular spot for military families and veterans. This was because a new military hospital and VA facilities were built nearby. Also, JBER's Joint Military Mall is only about 1 mile away. Many military members and their families live in east Anchorage and along the Glenn Highway.
Changes in Shopping Areas
Tikahtnu Commons has become the main shopping area for east Anchorage. It has taken the place of the Northway Mall and the areas around it. Some stores and restaurants, like Red Robin and Sam's Club, even closed their old locations in east Anchorage to reopen at Tikahtnu Commons.
This kind of change has happened before. Decades ago, the Northway Mall became popular and replaced the shopping area along Mountain View Drive. The Mountain View neighborhood was very busy in the 1950s and 1960s. At that time, Mountain View Drive was the main highway before the current freeway was built.
The Regal Cinemas at Tikahtnu Commons also replaced an older movie theater called the Fireweed Theatre. The Fireweed Theatre opened in 1965. It had replaced movie theaters in downtown Anchorage that were damaged by the 1964 earthquake. The Fireweed Theatre closed in 2010 and was later torn down. CIRI developed that land at the same time they were finishing Tikahtnu Commons.
Traffic and Roads
Tikahtnu Commons is located right off the busy Glenn Highway where it meets Muldoon Road. Because so many people visit the shopping center, there's a lot more traffic. This has caused some concerns about the road interchange between the highway and Muldoon Road. This interchange was built in the 1970s.
North Muldoon Road is the main way to get to Tikahtnu Commons. It also leads to Bartlett High School, the Alaska Native Heritage Center (ANHC), and one of the gates for Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson (JBER). Planners have started working on ideas for a new interchange. It was planned to be built around 2016.
