Nathan VanderKlippe
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Jan 23/02) - By the end of this year, Derek Cutler's daughter should have the dog she has been waiting for.

Cutler promised the pet only if they moved from their current rental unit into a house of their own.

City resource officer Angela Crant marks Derek Cutler's lot choices on a subdivision map. - Nathan VanderKlippe/NNSL photo

He made the first step toward building that house last Friday morning, when he selected a lot from among 18 new properties offered up for sale in Niven Lake.

Cutler and 10 others put down $1,000 refundable deposits earlier in the month, acquiring ballots to be drawn for property allocations -- 18 lots in Niven Lake and two elsewhere in the city.

Seven walked away with new lots.

Among them is Gorgana Vuksa, who purchased the available lot at 4811-54 Ave. She plans to build a duplex, and rent out the side she doesn't live in. Building a house is a good investment, she says, and $59,900 "is a good price for a lot."

But tight city stipulations on the lot ballot may have scared some people away, said Yellowknife real estate board president Shane Clark.

Successful ballot-holders had to put down 15 per cent of the lot price by 5 p.m. on Friday. That money was non-refundable, and the city has maintained the option to take back the lot if nothing is built in 24 months.

"The people who put the ballots in presumably are ones who are willing to jump in to the risk of an unconditional offer," he said.

Still, he said, the ballot draw was a good idea. "I'm very appreciative of the fact that the city put so much emphasis on the fairness of the procedures."

Mayor Gord Van Tighem said the ballot draw "kickstarts the process" of selling new lots, getting a number of people immediately on board to put the wheels in motion for future buyers.

In total, the city sold $490,900 in land on Friday, and more money may be coming soon.

The number of lots sold affects how quickly the city paves the road leading through the first half of existing Niven Lake development. The city is promising water and sewer to the newly opened lots this summer, but won't consider paving in that area until next summer.