Work starts on new Nova
No official building permit yet, but crews already on site for new hotel next to the Explorer
Karen K. Ho
Northern News Services
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Work on a new 146-room hotel has started on the land next to the Explorer.
Construction staff work on the site of the new Nova Hotel, located next to the Explorer. - Karen K. Ho/NNSL photo
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Nova Builders president Mike Mrdjenovich insist it is only limited to the foundation, but the new Nova will offer better rooms and services at prices significantly lower than other hotels in the city.
"We're going to start at $145, $150 a room," he told Yellowknifer. "I think that's what those rooms are worth in Yellowknife."
Mrdjenovich said the crews on site are only working on the foundation for the new hotel because his company doesn't yet have a building permit.
Mrdjenovich said the final drawings won't change that much. The new hotel will offer a restaurant and convention hall with a capacity for 240 people.
Cathie Bolstad, executive director of NWT Tourism, said that a new hotel in the city is very good news because her organization has seen increased demand for tourism in the areas of both leisure and business.
"We're very thrilled there's more development," she said. "More hotels (are) a good thing."
In the organization's role as the NWT Conference Bureau, Bolstad cited the inability to advance some of the bids they wanted to because the capacity in the territory wasn't there for some of the larger conferences.
"The addition of new hotel space and new meeting rooms and new banquet rooms is very good news because it'll mean we can pursue some of those conferences in the longer-term," she said.
Bolstand said her organization has been in touch with Nova to discuss the size and capacity of the new building's banquet facilities.
"As we're looking long-term for bidding on conferences, knowing those details is very important for us to match potential conferences to the future of the city," she said.
As for the close location of the new Nova property next to the Explorer, Boldstad only saw that as a positive thing.
"We're a cold-climate city so when there's large centres that are closely located, it makes it easier for conference planners for sure," she said.
Nova Hotels president Aleksa Mrdjenovich said that crews working on early stage ground work.
"We're definitely excited to get back into the Yellowknife market," she said, adding that the city is where the company started with the Chateau Nova, which is now the Days Inn.
If the city doesn't allow Nova to temporarily close the highway to connect his hotel to utility services, Mike said that Nova will have no choice but to build its own water and sewage tanks.
"It would only be for a few hours," he said. "It's done all the time down south. It's not a big deal."
Mrdjenovich plans on opening the hotel in the summer or fall of next year.
"I'm going to aim for my birthday," Mike said, citing the nearly two dozen other properties his company has already completed. "I just want one more."
But it may not stop there, Mike actually wants to build five more properties in Alberta in Saskatchewan in the next five years.
Mike said the only thing that confuses him is how much opposition he faces every time he tries to develop a project or build something in Yellowknife.
"Every Dick and Harry has their back up," he said, citing his experience building the Nova Court Hotel next to Stanton Territorial Hospital and the numerous appeals filed in the past. "I just can't figure this out."
