The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska now owns another acre of property in downtown Juneau.
The West Willoughby Avenue property includes the Driftwood Lodge, the Sandpiper Cafe building and the parking lot. In a statement, Tlingit and Haida president Chalyee Éesh Richard Peterson said it’s part of an ongoing effort to return ownership of traditional lands in the Aak’w Village District to the Tribe.
The Tribe plans to continue running the Driftwood Lodge as a hotel, and staff members are now employees of the tribe. The hotel has 62 rooms.
The property had an assessed value of $3.7 million.
“This was a solid investment with sustainable profit projections and an important land acquisition as the tribe continues to develop its campus in the downtown area,” Chief Development Officer Will Ware said in a statement.
The acquisition comes two months after Peterson signed a deed to put a nearby parcel of land into federal trust. The State of Alaska has challenged the federal government’s decision to put the land into trust, saying it violates the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.
