Owners of Yellowknife's Bellanca Building consider demolishing it

The Bellanca Building in Yellowknife has been unoccupied for years,and it might end up on the chopping block.

"We're certainly looking at demolishing it," said Darin Benoit, a property manager at McCOR Management which manages the building. This story wasfirst reported by the Yellowknifer.

Located downtownnear 49Avenue and 50 Street, the 55,000-square-foot building has been vacant since 2012, after a federal government department left it.

Although the building is still open to potential tenants, Benoit said three or four floors would need to be occupied before making it "financially feasible for the fans, the power, the air conditioning, and the heating to run at full capacity."

The vacant building costs about $350,000 a year to operate and maintain,including taxes, he said.

"It's bleeding [the owners] quite a bit now," said Benoit.

Tearing it down, Benoit added, would cost between $3 million and $4 million, in partbecause the building would have to be torn down floor by floor.

There have been considerations for other usessuch as turning it into a residential building, though a dearth of parking has been one of the biggest hurdles, Benoit said.

He said there haven't been any "serious" offers to buy the building.

Last year, part of the building's siding fell downdue to wind; it has since been covered with a temporary skin.

CBCNews requestedcomment from KingSett Capital, the Toronto-based firm that owns the building, and is waiting for a response.

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