SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - The new Engle Business District is going to be a bit prettier, as industrial areas go, says Nalini Naidoo, manager of planning and lands for the city.

Lots in the district go on sale Friday, Oct. 23 as phase one of the park's development gets underway with a ballot draw.

Located along the still under-construction road connecting the Deh Cho Boulevard in Kam Lake and Highway 3, the park is slated for intense industry, but with some more "aesthetically pleasing" aspects, Naidoo says.

"We're trying to develop a subdivision that incorporates trails, walking areas, better landscaping features … make it appealing for businesses to be out there," says Naidoo.

The ballot draw for 20 lots ranging from half a hectare to several hectares in size will take place at city hall. The lots' expected prices are about $125,000 an acre, says Jeffrey Humble, director of planning and development for the city.

Phase one includes about 50 hectares, he says, or nearly 124 acres.

A ballot draw of Niven Lake subdivision residential lots in October last year saw only three lots out of 30 sell, due to its fall date, as October doesn't leave much time for laying foundations before things start to freeze up, says Humble.

"I can't say that the sales will be any better than Niven Lake. We may not get any sales until spring," says Humble.

The timing of the sale comes down to all the paperwork that had to be done on the area first, Humble says, including registering the lots and the green space. The city will start its marketing strategy for the area in earnest in 2010, he says.

The lots will be significantly larger than those in the Kam Lake industrial district, Humble says. Also, the area is specifically targeting trucking companies.

"The whole idea is we've located a park where we don't have to take truck traffic into city limits," Humble says, noting that trucks heading for the Kam Lake area have to take Old Airport Road through the city.

"It's not an attractive feature for the heart of the city when you've got a lot of truck traffic going."

Robinson Enterprise Ltd. (RTL) already has a tank farm set up there, and ARS trucking, a company doing truck staging for the mines, is also calling the Engle district home, Humble says.

There is also a business zone within the park, located closer to the Deh Cho Boulevard extension, for lighter industrial related businesses such as commercial storage or car sales, according to Humble.

Another thing setting the Engle area apart from Kam Lake is that caretaker residences will not be allowed, says Naidoo. "That's a big change," she says, compared to Kam Lake, which is dotted throughout with caretaker houses.