Homer’s Growing…Now’s what does Homer do?

A few days ago, I reported on the Homer Alaska Airport latest construction update through Facebook. You can read that here. The purpose of me writing the article was 2-fold: Provide the community information that the local paper was not performing and Understand how the airport plays on future real estate buyers who live “out of state” transportation options.

Based on my interviews, full service for commercial and private/charter services will come back very soon. This is good news as it means Homer will soon have 2 passenger commercial service options again. The best option for most flying from the Lower 48 for the past 2 months has been flying into Anchorage International Airport then taking a luxury bus from there to Homer. That takes that time from 40 minutes air time to 5 hours road time.

That being said, there are some deficiencies that should be addressed, mostly allowing more private parking and hangars on the property. This would need to be funded by the City of Homer. The CoH has been focused on expanding and creating a deepwater port to attract more tourists and sea cargo traffic. However, long term payout is dubious. I feel that the more efficient option to bring in city revenue is to add these relatively cheap amenities for leasing that require little maintenance as the room is already available.

Homer needs to decide on it’s future and where they need to generate tax revenue, but I’ve been around since the 80’s and it’s gone from a blue collar fishing town to one aptly named it now “The Lake Havasu of Alaska”. All the metrics show this direction, so I say let’s embrace it!

Homer is a destination spot for sport fishing, fly-in bear viewing, great food, and beautiful scenery. We have many millionaires and billionaires already setting up their luxury estates here. I don’t see that going away. I suggest if you have the dollars for a second or third property, Homer is good for general living and property holding value.