The Alaska Railroad Corporation is in the process of developing Alaska’s first historic building certified under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program.

Its long-shuttered freight shed facility, located at 155 West First Ave. in Ship Creek, will get a new lease on life starting this summer.

Construction and site preparation will commence beginning in August with anticipated completion of the city’s first “green” office space by the summer of 2009.

With an emphasis on preserving the historical characteristics of the building, the space will pursue LEED certification under the program’s “core and shell” program, designed for remodels of existing buildings.

The freight shed will offer tenants roughly 36,000 square feet of commercial space, which can be subdivided into spaces no smaller than 3,000 square feet. It will be the beginning of the overall vision for Ship Creek, which is to create a community commerce center and market atmosphere in the Ship Creek area akin to Vancouver’s Granville Island or Seattle’s Pike Place Market.