Katie May
Northern News Services
Published Friday, August 08, 2008

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Undeveloped land reserved for a potential hotel is racking up unpaid property taxes while its owners decide whether to move ahead with construction.

Last year, Yellowknife River Resorts, a group of four aboriginal business partners, purchased four lots off Franklin Avenue from the city with the intention of building a luxury hotel on the Twin Pine Hill property.

Two of those lots, slated for hotel and residential development, have outstanding property taxes totalling more than $10,000, and the city can publicly auction off the land if these taxes aren't paid by the end of December.

Construction has yet to begin for the estimated $25 million resort project, which was first proposed by the Yellowknives Dene First Nation in 2000 and approved by city council two years later.In an agreement signed with the city, Yellowknife River Resorts has until 2012 to build the hotel or else the land reverts back to the city.

Roy Erasmus, CEO of the Deton'Cho Corporation, which has a 25 per cent stake in the proposed hotel, said the group is still discussing the project.

"We're still evaluating the prospect of moving forward," Erasmus said. "I'm not entirely clear on what discussions have happened with the property taxes," he added, saying he didn't have the details because the Denendeh Development Corporation, one of the companies that owns Yellowknife River Resorts, was meeting with the city.

Erasmus hinted "things are changing" regarding the project, but he couldn't give further details.

Darrell Beaulieu, president of Denendeh Development, is out of town until next week and couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday, but general manager Margaret Gorman referred back to Erasmus when asked for details about the unpaid property taxes. Mayor Gord Van Tighem confirmed that he has been in touch with Beaulieu as recently as a month ago and said he's aware there have been inter-company conversations about the project, but that nothing is official yet.

Van Tighem said he hopes construction of the proposed hotel moves forward soon.

"It was a lot of work getting to this stage, so I hope they get going."