Inside ‘The Njord’ – A New Duluth Luxury Vacation Rental With A Nordic View

DULUTH, Minn. — One of Duluth’s oldest buildings has been restored and remodeled into one of the city’s newest luxury vacation rentals.  And Lake Superior is front and center from every window on every floor.

“This is The Njord. The Njord is the Nordic God of water and seafaring. And so I think, fittingly, we named the building that because we’re right next to the water,” said Dillon Forcier, property manager of The Njord.

The Njord is tucked between longtime eateries Fitger’s and Sir Ben’s.

“That’s the superior view, right? Yeah, so you can look straight through the building from Superior Street right out to Lake Superior. It’s amazing,” Forcier said. 

The Njord is the latest project of the father-son Forcier team. Dillon’s father, Brian Forcier, owns the prime property through his company Titanium Partners.

Dillon’s father has transformed buildings in downtown Duluth like the Temple Opera Building into Bell Bank and the former Last Place on Earth building into what’s now Duluth’s Best Bread, with a luxury apartment up top.

“I always tell my dad that I’m proud of him. And he’s doing a great job because of projects like this and what we have upcoming that I’m sure we’ll be able to talk about eventually. And I’m just super excited to keep investing in Duluth,” Dillon Forcier said.

The Njord has three private entrances that lead to three short-term rental units named Thor, Freya and Odin.

Thor, or thunder, is designed for a family of four. There’s a king-sized bed, pullout couch, fully furnished amenities and a kitchen.

But Thor may not be for everyone.

“Freya is the goddess of romance. And I gotta say, that room’s perfect for couples. And then Odin obviously is the God of heaven. It is heavenly down there. The design is perfect. It’s got a master suite with a killer bathroom,” Forcier explained.

The Odin takes up the lower level of the original former gas station building from 1933 with multiple sliding-glass doors leading out to one long deck that looks over the Lakewalk and beyond.

And if you and your guests want a bit of Thor, Freya and Odin, the whole building is yours with doors that can connect to each room.

“Something’s always close by. And so that’s, that’s another thing that makes it super hard to beat and really will not match and just adds to the uniqueness of this project. And I’m so glad that I get to work with it and kind of mold it into something that can be, that can be just beautiful for Duluth,” Forcier said.

As for the cost, Forcier said it’ll fluctuate based on demand and time of year. The target market is Twin Cities’ suburbanites with higher-end disposable income.

A quick booking search for Thor, which is the lower-end unit of the three, came in at $275 for Wednesday night (June 7) before taxes and an $80 cleaning fee.  A Saturday in late July came in at $696 before taxes and fees.