Det鈥檕n Cho Corporation, the economic development arm of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, has finalized its purchase of the Nunasi Building on 48 St. on Nov. 30.

John Henderson, president and CEO for Det鈥檕n Cho Management LP, said that the building is long-term investment for the company, one they intend to hold onto indefinitely.

鈥淲e have investments in a lot of areas and we do have some commercial buildings now but the majority of them are for use for our own purposes,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have warehousing, passenger lounges at the airport, for example. Most of them are part of the core operation business whereas this property is dedicated as an investment property.鈥�

Henderson also said that the company believed it was necessary to diversify its investments.

鈥淚t was up for sale, so we鈥檝e seen it as a way to diversify our holdings into something that鈥檚 not necessarily an operational business,鈥� he said.

Henderson declined to share the cost of the building, but said that they have been working to acquire the property since July.

The building is a commercial space, home to nearly a dozen businesses such as Polar Vision and Top of the World Travel.

The contracts between the pre-existing tenets were maintained through the ownership transfer, Henderson said.

Tenents currently occupy all available spaces in the Nunasi building, though the basement isn鈥檛 being used for anything.

Henderson gave some indication as to what they might do with the space.

鈥淲e will probably will utilize the basement office space for our own purposes, to do some job specific training,鈥� he said.

He said that the basement was previously being used for storage, and they don鈥檛 intend to make that space available for rent to the public.

鈥淚t鈥檚 used as storage right now and it hasn鈥檛 been marketed. It has been in the past 鈥� there have been offices there,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 potential for some shared office space for some of the companies that we deal with on a regular basis. We鈥檙e not going to market it as an additional office space to the general public.鈥�