$45M eco-lodge proposed near Carcross, Yukon

The Yukon government and the Carcross First Nation are considering plans for a luxury resort on Bennett Lake.

The proposal comes from British Columbia-based International Ecotourism Development Corporation.

The company hopes to build a $45 million tourist resort on Millhaven Bay, 15 kilometres south of Carcross.

Rod Taylor, a former Yukon tourism operator, is the company’s CEO.

He says the resort will be financed completely by private investors.

"There's no such thing as a slam dunk but I have to tell you right now the market is so ripe for this product it's incredible,” Taylor says.

“Carcross Tagish genuinely believe in it and want to be part of it, certainly Chief Cresswell does, and we seem to have investors that are ripe for this."

Taylor says the Millhaven Bay eco-lodge will be modelled after the world famous Clayoquot Resort on Vancouver Island.  He says Millhaven Bay was identified as a potential site for a world-class tourist resort several years ago.

Taylor says plans for the resort will undergo public review over the next month, and eventually require approvals from Yukon's environmental regulators. 

Plans call for construction of The Lodge at Stoney Mountain to take place over the next three years.

Taylor says it's expected the resort will be operational, year-round, by the end of 2018.