Locals have known it as the "old Canadian Tire store” for years, but that's all changing with the official opening of NVD Place.

The new mall has risen in the former Canadian Tire building on Fourth Avenue. It had its grand opening in the mall's main entry area Tuesday afternoon, with the occasion also marking Northern Vision Development's 10th birthday.

While construction crews continued to work behind walled partitions, NVD CEO Rich Thompson said with numerous investors and others involved with NVD in town for the birthday celebrations, it was also important to mark the company's latest development, expected to be in full operation later this year.

Already, a few tenants in the mall have opened up shop.

The Teegatha'OH Zheh Society was the first to move in last October. It has been continuing to offer programs and services to adults who have been labelled as having intellectual disabilities.

Others, like Medicine Chest Pharmacy, opened in May next door to Klondyke Medical's new facility at NVD Place, opting to have a new second location at the new facility.

Robbyn's Street Grill, meanwhile, shut down its Alaska Highway restaurant in favour of the new downtown space and is set to open in the coming days.

Mid Arctic Technology Services is still getting its space ready for a July opening as it prepares to shut down its current location.

"You're seeing a work in progress,” Thompson told the large crowd gathered for the official opening.

While he acknowledged the company would rather not be in the "softer” leasing market Whitehorse is experiencing of late, he also noted the new mall offers retailers and others a new option not seen in the community.

Along with about nine more traditional store-front type units available for lease in the mall, there is a marketplace space and kiosk spaces available in the main atrium area.

While the 2,480 square foot marketplace has yet to find tenants and open, from pictures displayed on the wall where it's envisioned, it will be a space for food sales like fresh bread, meat and produce.

"This will really come alive,” Thompson predicted. "We're delighted to be opening this project up.”

Visitors to the new mall enjoyed a feast of goodies ranging from sushi to fresh fruit and veggies to chocolate squares and sweets along with complimentary beverages.

They listened to Taylor Love, NVD's director of business development, recall the process to open a new mall in the city.

It was in 2007 when Canadian Tire closed its store there and opened its new outlet next to Walmart.

The property – which once housed The Bay department store – sat vacant and for sale until last year, when NVD purchased it to build the new mall.

There were doubts early on about whether NVD's idea for the new centre could come to fruition as the company envisioned a building that featured a lot of natural light streaming through new windows.

Time was spent engineering and planning out the design. Then, as the physical work on the building began, mechanical, plumbing and other systems were redone along with the building's exterior.

"It truly is a big, major upgrade,” Love said.

Hannes Kovac, NVD's real estate chair based out of Calgary, said Canadian Tire had approached another company he's involved with about potentially purchasing the property. While it wasn't right for his other company, he thought it would be a great fit for NVD and proposed it.

Travelling back and forth between Calgary and Whitehorse, Kovac has seen work continue on the building since last year.

Being at Tuesday's official opening and being part of the ribbon-cutting was a "mix of emotions,” he said as he noted a lot of pride in the project.

"It takes a lot of people to make it happen,” he said.

Throughout Tuesday's presentations, Kovac and other officials thanked a number of parties involved in the project from contractors to governments to tenants.

Mayor Dan Curtis had his own thanks for NVD. He pointed out that one of the things he learned early on as mayor is that to be successful, a municipality needs a strong, vibrant downtown.

Confidence is not instilled with boarded-up buildings, he said as he compared the new mall to the Empire State Building. The New York City landmark was built in the 1930s, at a time when there was little, if any, confidence in the Depression-wracked economy.

The iconic structure helped to build the confidence needed at that time, Curtis said.

Similarly, NVD Place could do the same for Whitehorse.

Rather than having visitors drive downtown past an abandoned building, they will see a facility contributing to the community.

"When people come, they're going to shop and spend money,” the mayor said. "I know it's going to be successful.”

Already, the work on the building has contributed to the local economy, with jobs on the project and numerous hours of employment in getting the building ready for its new use.

The mayor then again noted his thanks to NVD in taking a "leap of faith” with the project.

For many building tenants, opening a new location or moving to NVD Place also represents a leap of faith they're welcoming.

As staff and owners at Robbyn's Street Grill prepped to open, they said when a chance to move downtown presented itself, they grabbed it.

As co-owner Robbyn Burke said, they had already outgrown their space on the highway five years ago, just shortly after they opened.

With high demand for the grub they served, but a slightly run-down location, they were ready to move and raise the bar on the restaurant that they believe will soon be welcoming even more customers.

The entire family has been involved in the design of the new location, with Robbyn and husband Darren Bakken's nine-year-old son, Kreed, selecting the orange colour – referred to on colour palettes as boing – that graces the walls.

Patio-style dining complete with umbrellas was done with the intention of giving a certain ambiance without the often unwanted weather elements of outdoor seating.

As Burke pointed out, weather conditions are not always conducive to outdoor eating in the Yukon.

Not only involved in the selection of decor, Kreed is also behind the kids' menu served at Robbyn's. He expects to be serving up sundaes at the ice cream bar as part of the kids' experience at the restaurant as well.

Next door to Robbyn's is Medicine Chest Pharmacy's second location.

"It's a great opportunity,” manager Jeff Spiers said of the decision to open there, noting being attached to Klondike Medical in the same building, the downtown location and the available parking were all part of the decision to expand.

While some customers have chosen to move to the newer pharmacy, Medicine Chest has also seen new customers happy to come to the new location, which has been fitted out with a waiting area that includes a TV as well as space for children to colour or do other activities while waiting.

At the other end of the mall next to the main entrance, construction is still underway inside the new space for Mid Arctic Technology Services, set to relocate from its current location early next month.

While it's largely a space of walls and windows at first glance, company president Chris May is anxious to show off the 2,700 square foot portion of the building.

"We needed more space,” he said.

It will allow Mid Arctic to expand its services and move further into servicing residential computers as well as the commercial and government sectors the company works with, May noted.

"For us, it's a prime location,” he said.

Doubling the space of the current location and being able to build it to suit Mid Arctic's needs were all part of its decision, he said, joking that one area of their new space will have a high enough ceiling that they can all fly their remote control helicopters.

Ever focused on technology, May was quick to point out windows in a storage room which act as a screen and will project the Mid Arctic name into the mall's atrium.

The company also has plans down the line to bring in a newer, high-tech 3-D printer and will be announcing further details on that soon, he said.

The business has just two days it will be closed for the move, and it's expected the new location will open July 2.

Alpine Bra and Alpine Health are also among the new tenants for the mall, with other units available for lease.

The cost of the building's refurbishment is not being made public.