Det’on Cho Management LP and subsidiary Det’on Cho We Le Dai LP, operators of the Vital Abel Boarding Home, have acquired the former Slave Lake Inn at 4105 Franklin Ave.
Opened in March 2019, the business had been operating as a 31-unit hotel under previous ownership. The acquisition will lead to a transition of boarding home services from the Vital Abel Boarding Home in Ndilǫ to the new facility on Franklin Avenue.
“If you, for example, live in Aklavik and you have to come into Yellowknife for some medical treatment, and you’re not admitted to the hospital, you need somewhere to stay,” said John Henderson, chief operating officer of Det’on Cho Management LP. “That stay is with us at the Vital Abel boarding home in Ndilǫ.
“So, over the past few years, occupancy has increased and we needed more space,” he said. “So we looked for more space over the past couple of years. And now, earlier this year, we started talking with the owners of the Slave Lake Inn about acquisition. So, basically, we’re removing operations of one of our key businesses into that facility after we renovate.”
Det’on Cho plans to start those renovations immediately, including installation of a new commercial kitchen and room enhancements.
“We provide up to 60 meals, 60-plus meals, daily,” he said. “At a new facility, we’ll be providing actually more than that because it’ll be breakfast, lunch and dinner for up to 60 people. So that requires a full commercial kitchen, which is, as I’ve come to learn, not cheap.”
Although Henderson wouldn’t disclose the cost of the acquisition, he did reveal that the Yellowknives Dene’s economic development arm will probably “invest a further million dollars” renovating the building.
The Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority and the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency provided funding for Det’on Cho to make the investment.
Det’on Cho’s current medical travel facility in Ndilǫ will be repurposed for community housing, resulting in 11 apartment units for the Yellowknives Dene First Nation.
Det’on Cho is also in the process of renaming the property. The new name will be representative of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, according to the organization.