New hotel in Iqaluit to break ground this month

Plans for a hotel on Federal Road are inching toward reality, as the Qikiqtaaluk Corporation has received permission from the City of Iqaluit to start driving piles into the ground this month.

The permits only allow for prep work on the site at the moment building the actual hotel will have to wait until the city and the corporation agree on how to get city infrastructure, such as the sewer system, to service the area.

Qikiqtaaluk Corporation president Harry Flaherty said he believes the corporation will get the permits it needs to build the hotel, which he expects will be complete in 2019.

"I think being a capital, this is a great opportunity for the city of Iqaluit," Flaherty said.

The hotel will have a restaurant, bar, spaces for small retail stores, a spa and exercise room, Flaherty said.

It will have just short of 100 rooms, including 12 suites, and a 5,000-square-foot conference centre.

It will cost around $50 million. Flaherty says the board has been working on securing financing for it over the past five years and in March it approved a financing plan.

Housing complex, heritage and arts centres

Qikiqtaaluk Corporation is an Inuit birthright development corporation created by the Qikiqtani Inuit Association. Flaherty says the corporation has even bigger plans for the section of Inuit-owned land on the north side of Federal Road, which was approved by the city in 2015, but it is focusing on the hotel and conference centre for now.

"It's always changing as we go along, but our goal is to having an affordable housing complex," he said.

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Flaherty said he expects development of the entire 42 hectares land to cost between $300 and $400 million and to be powered solely by renewable energy.

As it's Inuit-owned land, Flaherty thinks it makes sense to have a heritage centre in the area. He said the corporation has also been working with the Qaggiavuut Society to plan for a performing arts centre.

QC is attending the City of Iqaluit's planning and development committee of the whole on May 9, to continue to work out the details of the agreement.

It will be bringing up hotel building materials by sealift this summer.