City council rejects: Dynamic duo denied permission to build 10-story hotel

The dream of two very enterprising Greenlandic businessmen to build a 10-story hotel in the middle of Ilulissat will not be realized.

With a height of 35 meters, the new superhotel would be Greenland's tallest hotel to date and have a beautiful view of the ice fjord.

The municipal council of Avannaata Kommunia has, at a meeting shortly before New Year's, refused to grant land allocation for the ambitious and large-scale project that brothers Frank and Tommy Bagger are behind.

A disappointed Frank Bagger has this comment on the rejection:

- My comment is simply that it is a shame, because the need for more hotel rooms in Ilulissat is great, he tells Sermitsiaq.

The hotel was to be located in an area between the retail stores Brugseni and Pisiffik, where the Bagger-owned company Tankeeraq's gas station on Kussangajaannguaq is located.

Municipal Council: - Find alternative solution

The municipal council discussed the application for land allocation for the new hotel at a meeting on Monday, December 29, following an inquiry from the applicant Tankeeraq Ejendomme, owned by Frank and Tommy Bagger.

- The result is that the original decision from the meeting on November 21, 2025 is maintained. The current physical conditions in sub-area 1200-C17 will be preserved, and therefore the framework set out in the municipal plan will not be changed.

- The municipal council has decided that new construction of the size in question should be located outside the city center of Ilulissat. An alternative solution must therefore be found.

This is written by the urban planner in Avannaata Kommunia, architect Martin Viggo Meincke, in an email to Sermitsiaq.

Started with 12 floors

In the spring of 2025, Frank and Tommy Bagger applied to the municipality for the green light for a 12-story hotel in the city center of Ilulissat. But they downgraded the project to 10 floors. The goal was to have the hotel completed by 2028.

The original project application, named "High North Ilulissat", was submitted to Avannaata Municipality by the developer Tankeeraq Ejendomme ApS, which is owned by the two brothers. Tegnestue Qarsoq has been hired as an advisor on the hotel project.

Frank and Tommy Bagger own the investment company Ilu Invest together with the legendary businessman Jens Kristian Friis-Salling. The investment company is behind the Best Western Hotel in Ilulissat. Jens Friis-Salling, who has been in business for almost 50 years, is one of the former major owners of Greenland's largest private company Polar Seafood.

The project application for the original 12-story hotel, which the Qarsoq design studio sent to the municipality on behalf of Tankeraq Ejendomme, stated that the developer, and thus the Bagger brothers, wanted to build another hotel for the benefit of the community.

Socially sustainable workplaces

They have seen it as their duty to provide socially sustainable workplaces so that more local labor can be employed.

- The goal is that the new hotel meets the latest standards for energy saving with everything from optimal linen utilization to sustainable cuisine in the restaurant using local ingredients. This should be a goal for both the partnership behind the hotel and the professional operator who will run the hotel on a daily basis, it was stated in the project application.

With the new international Atlantic airport in Ilulissat, which according to Greenland Airports is expected to open in October this year, Frank Bagger 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 told Sermitsiaq in June 2025.

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