Published: September 05, 2008 08:00 pm      

Efforts to find Sugar Loaf buyer continue

Resort has been closed for eight seasons

TRAVERSE CITY -- Efforts to find a buyer for long-shuttered Sugar Loaf Resort will continue as owners determine who'll market the property.

An attorney for Sugar Loaf owner Kate Wickstrom said she's negotiating with a Florida-based bank on an agreement to continue as sales agent for the Leelanau County property.

Wickstrom bought Sugar Loaf 31/2 years ago but was unable to resuscitate it as a full-service resort. A mortgage on the property held by TransCapital Bank extended to Aug. 1, but Wickstrom attorney Joseph Quandt said the bank hasn't foreclosed on the property.

"I don't think the bank wants it back," he said.

Quandt said there have been a few inquiries since a potential deal with seasonal Leelanau County resident Brad Lutz fell through in the spring.

Lutz emerged last fall as a potential buyer to revive a resort that's been shuttered for eight seasons, but said he needed more time to complete his due diligence on the property.

Wickstrom unveiled a $50 million redevelopment plan two years ago that included an overhaul of the main lodge, an RV campground and plans for an "extreme" winter sports park. But the plans never materialized, and Wickstrom also was tied up in litigation with a separate company that owns the property's sewage treatment system.

The resort includes about 400 acres in Cleveland Township with the lodge building, ski hill and various residential properties, and around 100 acres in neighboring Centerville Township. Quandt said the property recently was listed for sale for $5.7 million, about what Wickstrom paid in 2005.