A 12-story hotel with 195 rooms in the center of Ilulissat town. This is the ambitious project for which brothers Frank and Tommy Bagger have applied to Avannaata Kommunia for permission.

If Avannaata Kommunia gives the green light to a project to build a new 12-story hotel in the city center of Ilulissat, enterprising businessman Frank Bagger hopes that the hotel can be completed in two to three years.

Hvis Avannaata Kommunia

– Just before the municipal elections on April 1, we have sent an application for a building permit to Avannaata Kommunia. If the project progresses according to plan and the construction goes well, we can open the new hotel in 2028, says Frank Bagger to Sermitsiaq.

If Avannaata Kommunia gives the green light to a project to build a new 12-story hotel in the city center of Ilulissat, enterprising businessman Frank Bagger hopes that the hotel can be completed in two to three years.

Hvis Avannaata KommuniaAnnouncement

– Just before the municipal elections on April 1, we have sent an application for a building permit to Avannaata Kommunia. If the project progresses according to plan and the construction goes well, we can open the new hotel in 2028, says Frank Bagger to Sermitsiaq.

Together with his brother Tommy Bagger, he is working on an ambitious and large-scale project to build an approximately 6,000 square meter hotel with 195 rooms.

The project application named “High North Ilulissat” has been submitted by the developer Tankeeraq Ejendomme ApS, which is owned by the two brothers.

They have hired Qarsoq Tegnestue as an advisor on the hotel project. Frank and Tommy Bagger also own the investment company Ilu Invest together with Jens Kristian Friis-Salling, who is behind the Best Western Hotel in Ilulissat.

Sustainable workplaces

The project application that the design firm has sent to the municipality on behalf of Tankeeraq Ejendomme shows that the developer and thus the two brothers want to build another hotel for the benefit of society, as Frank and Tommy Bagger see it as their duty to provide socially sustainable jobs so that more local workers can be employed.

– The goal is for the new hotel to meet the latest standards for energy saving with everything from optimal linen utilization to a sustainable kitchen in the restaurant using local ingredients. This must be a goal for both the partnership behind the hotel and the professional operator who will run the hotel on a daily basis, the project application states, among other things.

Before the municipal approval of the application is in place, the Bagger brothers will not enter into negotiations with a contractor to build the hotel.

Guests get a good view of the Isfjorden

The hotel will be located where Tankeeraq’s gas station at Kussangajaannguaq is located, that is, an area between Brugseni and Pisiffik.

– By building a 12-story hotel, we make better use of the land area, and the guests will have a good view of the Isfjorden, says Frank Bagger.

He believes that Ilulissat has a huge need for more hotel rooms, as there is growth in tourism and even more growth is expected when the new international airport is opened.

– It is necessary to build a hotel with many rooms if we are to be able to attract charter tourists to Ilulissat, says Frank Bagger.

With the new international airport, which according to Greenland Airport’s announcements will open in the second half of 2026, he sees the basis for charter flights to land in Ilulissat in addition to scheduled flights.

– Maybe cruise companies will also need rooms if we build the new hotel, if the companies choose to exchange passengers and crew in Ilulissat in the future, he adds.

The starting point for Frank and Tommy Bagger’s plans is that the 12-story hotel will be built on load-bearing steel structures instead of concrete.

As mentioned, the brothers, together with Jens Friis-Salling, own the investment company Ilu Invest, which owns the Ilulissat Best Western Plus, colloquially known as Hotel Ilulissat, with 78 rooms. It was KJ Greenland, headquartered in Ilulissat, that was given the task of building the hotel, which opened in May 2021. The hotel has a beautiful view of the Isfjord and Kirkebugten.

– We strongly hope to get the municipal council’s support for our application to build the new hotel. Especially because we are local investors, says Frank Bagger.

Avannaata Kommunia mayor Lars Erik Gabrielsen, Siumut, says in a comment to the story, that he does not know the project.

However, an application for permission to build such a hotel must first be processed by the technical and environmental committee before the project is sent for public consultation, explains the mayor.

– I can therefore not take a position on the project now. When that time comes, we will also hear from the population what they think of the project. If they say ok, it is probably also an ok from us in the municipal council, says Lars Erik Gabrielsen.

If Avannaata Kommunia gives the green light to a project to build a new 12-story hotel in the city center of Ilulissat, enterprising businessman Frank Bagger hopes that the hotel can be completed in two to three years.

Hvis Avannaata Kommunia

– Just before the municipal elections on April 1, we have sent an application for a building permit to Avannaata Kommunia. If the project progresses according to plan and the construction goes well, we can open the new hotel in 2028, says Frank Bagger to Sermitsiaq.

If Avannaata Kommunia gives the green light to a project to build a new 12-story hotel in the city center of Ilulissat, enterprising businessman Frank Bagger hopes that the hotel can be completed in two to three years.

Hvis Avannaata KommuniaAnnouncement

– Just before the municipal elections on April 1, we have sent an application for a building permit to Avannaata Kommunia. If the project progresses according to plan and the construction goes well, we can open the new hotel in 2028, says Frank Bagger to Sermitsiaq.

Together with his brother Tommy Bagger, he is working on an ambitious and large-scale project to build an approximately 6,000 square meter hotel with 195 rooms.

The project application named “High North Ilulissat” has been submitted by the developer Tankeeraq Ejendomme ApS, which is owned by the two brothers.

They have hired Qarsoq Tegnestue as an advisor on the hotel project. Frank and Tommy Bagger also own the investment company Ilu Invest together with Jens Kristian Friis-Salling, who is behind the Best Western Hotel in Ilulissat.

Sustainable workplaces

The project application that the design firm has sent to the municipality on behalf of Tankeeraq Ejendomme shows that the developer and thus the two brothers want to build another hotel for the benefit of society, as Frank and Tommy Bagger see it as their duty to provide socially sustainable jobs so that more local workers can be employed.

– The goal is for the new hotel to meet the latest standards for energy saving with everything from optimal linen utilization to a sustainable kitchen in the restaurant using local ingredients. This must be a goal for both the partnership behind the hotel and the professional operator who will run the hotel on a daily basis, the project application states, among other things.

Before the municipal approval of the application is in place, the Bagger brothers will not enter into negotiations with a contractor to build the hotel.

Guests get a good view of the Isfjorden

The hotel will be located where Tankeeraq’s gas station at Kussangajaannguaq is located, that is, an area between Brugseni and Pisiffik.

– By building a 12-story hotel, we make better use of the land area, and the guests will have a good view of the Isfjorden, says Frank Bagger.

He believes that Ilulissat has a huge need for more hotel rooms, as there is growth in tourism and even more growth is expected when the new international airport is opened.

– It is necessary to build a hotel with many rooms if we are to be able to attract charter tourists to Ilulissat, says Frank Bagger.

With the new international airport, which according to Greenland Airport’s announcements will open in the second half of 2026, he sees the basis for charter flights to land in Ilulissat in addition to scheduled flights.

– Maybe cruise companies will also need rooms if we build the new hotel, if the companies choose to exchange passengers and crew in Ilulissat in the future, he adds.

The starting point for Frank and Tommy Bagger’s plans is that the 12-story hotel will be built on load-bearing steel structures instead of concrete.

As mentioned, the brothers, together with Jens Friis-Salling, own the investment company Ilu Invest, which owns the Ilulissat Best Western Plus, colloquially known as Hotel Ilulissat, with 78 rooms. It was KJ Greenland, headquartered in Ilulissat, that was given the task of building the hotel, which opened in May 2021. The hotel has a beautiful view of the Isfjord and Kirkebugten.

– We strongly hope to get the municipal council’s support for our application to build the new hotel. Especially because we are local investors, says Frank Bagger.

Avannaata Kommunia mayor Lars Erik Gabrielsen, Siumut, says in a comment to the story, that he does not know the project.

However, an application for permission to build such a hotel must first be processed by the technical and environmental committee before the project is sent for public consultation, explains the mayor.

– I can therefore not take a position on the project now. When that time comes, we will also hear from the population what they think of the project. If they say ok, it is probably also an ok from us in the municipal council, says Lars Erik Gabrielsen.