About Pelican Properties

Located above Moose Creek Valley, Fairbanks, AK

Pelican Properties was a partnership, and then an LLC, that developed the Karamea Heights subdivision on Moose Mountain, starting in 1997. We built 4 cabins and got the roof on a large garage/shop, which is now a nice family home (with a well!). We put in a high-standard road and began subdividing the original 33.7 acres in 2010. The subdivision, Karamea Heights, was complete after the Fourth Addition in 2019.

This website was originally intended for prospective renters, but now that we’ve sold the last of the buildings, we’re re-purposing it as a brief record of the history of PeliProp.

This is what this page said prior to October 17, 2018, after which it was no longer used as a place to refer prospective tenants. The following text sat right below the cabin slide show you see above:

We have four two one (we’ve sold three of the original four, and have a purchase agreement in effect for the last one) nice 20’ x 24’ cabins off Moose Mountain Road. They sit on south-facing two-acre lots and are super insulated with oil heat. Waterless, with outhouse. Comfortable cabin living with good location, high-quality construction, and efficient layout. The rental agreement is month-to-month. Damage deposit is required. Pets must be approved in advance.

History of Pelican Properties, affectionately known as PeliProp

Concept and land purchase

Pelican Properties began when three friends agreed to buy 33.7 south-facing acres on Moose Mountain, with the intention of building several waterless cabins for fun and profit. We had all lived in waterless cabins at one time or another and hoped to provide nice, practical cabins with attention to the best arctic building science available at that time. We three formed a general partnership and bought the land in August 1997 from Moose Mountain Inc..

Initial efforts

The acquisition of the land and the materials for the first 2 cabins were paid for by savings the partners invested in the project. Once we started earning rental income, we generally had enough to fund subsequent building.

First phases of road construction.

The upper portion of the road, from Moose Mountain Road along the property line with the Moose Mountain South subdivision, was pioneered with a D9 dozer by the time the sale was complete. The pioneer road was designated Jackson Hole Road with the FNSB. On paper that road could have extended to the southern boundary of the subdivision. Two of us laid out and flagged another road running westward using a handheld clinometer and generally following the lay of the land. That road was called Karamea Lane.

There were quite a few big spruce trees along the Karamea Lane route. These were harvested for house logs by Rich Hall using his big tree shear and rubber-tired skidder. After the big trees were removed Bob Marcy and his D-9 bulldozer put in Karamea Lane  and 11 roughed-in driveways and building sites. We added a lot of big rock to the road by straightening the main Moose Mt. road and crushing the big chunks of bedrock with the D9. It took one day, 5 dump trucks, and a big loader in addition to the D9 to make the road suitable for all conditions.

First two, and then four, waterless cabins for rent

We started building 2 cabins in 1998 on what are now lots 10 and 11 (plat 2014-114 FRD). There was no power at the site during most of the construction and we relied on our gasoline generator to run the saws and air compressor. It rained a lot that year, but by fall the roofs were on and by August 1999 they were both rented for the first time.

We completed cabin #3 on what is now Lot 2 (plat 2008-36 FRD), and it first rented in June 2000. Cabin #4 (now Lot 3a) was completed in 2001 and first rented in July of that year.

Over time we got a lot better at putting up the cabins. We always sub-contracted the dry wall interiors, and we hired roofers for Cabins #3 and #4. We continually refined the plans we’d drawn in AutoCAD, and improved our carpentry skills and building processes. If we thought a tool would help, we generally bought it, and affordable tools kept improving. We acquired a laser level, laser square, panel saw, and cordless impact drivers, each of which sped things up while improving the quality or our workmanship.

The garage/shop

Having had several years experience with the rentals we thought it would be good if we could pre-fab the next batch of cabins during the winter months and out of the weather, so we designed a larger building, with 10-foot high, 12-inch thick walls, to accommodate work like that. We had a well drilled and poured the mono-slab and insulated formwork in spring of 2007. By fall we had the roof on, including the architectural shingles. We bought triple pane windows and pre-hung industrial doors, but did not make further progress in 2008 and stopped all work by 2009.

The partnership morphs into an LLC and building stops (2009)

In spring of 2009 the partnership was dissolved and became an LLC, still called Pelican Properties, to continue to manage the rentals and property.

Road upgrade and first subdivision (2012-13)

By 2012 it was clear we would not be building more cabins or completing the garage/shop project, so we began planning to subdivide as a prerequisite to selling the cabins and garage/shop individually. The first step was to upgrade the road to fully comply with FNSB standards. That project was mostly handled by M&M Construction and RCH Surveying, and the plat (2013-40) was accepted in May, 2013. The plat vacated the original easement for continuation of Jackson Hole Road to the southeast, so the Borough required us to rename Karamea Lane to Jackson Hole Road. At this point Cabin #3 was on its own lot, but the other 4 buildings needed further subdivision to be sold individually.

Selling the cabins and the garage/shop, along with the associated subdivision phases

We subdivided off Lot 9 via plat 2014-114. This helped us sell the garage/shop in 2014. The new owner was a builder and converted the structure to a family home.

Lots 10 (Cabin #2) and 11 (Cabin #1) were created via plat 2015-59.

We sold Lot 10/Cabin #2 in 2016. The new owner added a porch and various interior improvements and rented it out.

We also sold Lot 2/Cabin #3 in 2016 to the couple who were renting it. They built an addition in 2017.

We created Lots 3a and 3b with Plat 2018-76.

We sold Lot 11/Cabin #1 in 2018.

Also in 2018 we sold Lot 3a/Cabin #4 and Lot 3b to the person who was renting Cabin #4.

Subdividing and selling the remaining lots (2018 – 2024)

Pelican Properties conveyed the remaining interests held by the LLC in Karamea Heights to the LLC members. This happened in 2018 via a QCD recorded as 2018-018885-0. This QCD conveyed Tracts A-1 and B-2 and Lot 1.

In August 2019 we created Lots 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 from Tracts A-1 and B-2 via Plat 2019-82 to complete the approved subdivision plan we had with the Borough.

From spring of 2020 through spring of 2022 we were caught out of the country by COVID travel restrictions. It was not until the summer of 2024 that we felt the time was right to market the remaining parcels at Karamea Heights. We started by listing Lot 4 on Craigslist in June, 2024. By October we had signed purchase agreements for Lots 1, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. Some of the sales were owner financed and we will have some income coming in from that, but we consider our part in the project to be finished.

Closing thoughts

At the end of the day this project, as we experienced it over more than 25 years, was a positive thing. We learned many skills that helped us be more productive in other aspects of our lives. We treasure our friendship: working and planning and building together.

We always tried to charge reasonable rents. This helped us keep the good tenants over long periods and fill vacancies quickly. Several of our renters were able to save enough over their time in the cabins to buy houses of their own, and once the buildings went up for sale, four more families found homes in Karamea Heights.

We’re proud of the way the road and buildings held up, and we hope to see the vacant lots developed as this well-loved neighborhood continues to evolve.

Without figuring out what might have happened if we’d just invested in the stock market, it seems the finances worked out okay. Paying property tax on the lots the past few years without having any rent coming in probably ate into any overall profit, but that was incremental and it didn’t feel too bad.

I guess the bottom line is we wouldn’t trade the camaraderie, skill-building, feelings of accomplishment, and sense of contribution to our community for some hypothetical amount of extra money.

A few close calls over the years

Nobody got hurt…