Anchorage, AK Zoning Overlays & Bonuses: Density Bonus Law (2026)

The R-4 multifamily district is Anchorage's medium-to-high density residential zone, and its base floor area ratio (FAR) tops out at 1.5 under Section 21.04.020I.2.c of the Anchorage Municipal Code. Rather than a hard cap, the section lays out five separate incentive paths a developer can combine. Open space earns a straight one-square-foot bonus for every square foot of qualifying open area under Section 21.07.030D, doubling to two square feet if the space meets the code's 'high quality' open space standard. Covered below-grade parking earns two square feet of bonus floor area per square foot of garage, capped at a 1.0 FAR increase, and that ratio jumps to four square feet per square foot on a second level built below grade.

Affordable rental housing earns four square feet of bonus floor area per square foot of qualifying unit, also capped at a 1.0 FAR increase, provided the units meet the affordable-housing standards of Section 21.07.110G. Upper-floor setbacks that protect solar access, and a 'wrapped parking' bonus for habitable space built around a parking structure under Section 21.06.030E.2.g, round out the list. Stacking these incentives can push a building from the base 1.5 FAR toward the district's practical ceiling. Height follows the same logic: Section 21.04.020I.2.d lets a participating project rise to 70 feet, well past Table 21.06-1's base limit, if the ground floor keeps at least 24 feet of residential or active nonparking depth facing the street, the design meets the height-transition rules of Section 21.06.030D.8, and the project goes through administrative site plan review rather than being approved by right.