The Record-Eagle (and today's Enterprise) report that Brad Lutz, who signed a purchase agreement for the resort in February, announced Tuesday he won't close because he hasn't finished his review of the deal.
"We're still very interested in Sugar Loaf. We've done a lot of work out there and we still have a good plan for the property," Lutz said. "But we couldn't accomplish in 90 days what others haven't been able to accomplish in eight years."
...Lutz declined to discuss his plans in detail, but said he wanted to make the resort more of a four-season attraction in Leelanau County. He said he also needed more time to work on details like county and township approvals for renovating the property, tying down building demolition costs and reaching and resolving sewer issues as the resort's sewer system is not part of Wickstrom's holdings.
Read Purchaser pulls back on Sugar Loaf deal in the Traverse City Record-Eagle and also see Offers for Sugar Loaf shot down from the Leelanau Enterprise.
The photo is (still) waiting for Sugar Loaf by Andy McFarlane (who is still (still) waiting for Sugar Loaf).
The Leelanau Enterprise reports that Leelanau County is the first non-urban municipality in Michigan to take advantage of new brownfield redevelopment rules that provide funding to clean up obsolete, blighted or contaminated properties.
The property in question is the former county courthouse campus in Leland, which is slated to be sold by next month to a local development company, Varley-Kelly Properties L.L.C., for redevelopment into a 2.4-acre residential neighborhood in the heart of downtown Leland.
A decision made Tuesday afternoon in Lansing by the Michigan Economic Growth Authority (MEGA) board will allow the developer to tap into some $350,750 in "tax increment financing" to clean up the site before it is developed.
Read Brownfield site in line for state financing aid in the Enterprise.
The Leelanau Enterprise talked to Brad Lutz regarding the listing of Sugar Loaf:
Lutz told the Enterprise on Wednesday morning that his “option to purchase” Sugar Loaf Resort from Wickstrom remains in force, and that he was still in the “due diligence” phase of his efforts to acquire the resort. Even though Wickstrom decided to list the property for sale after Lutz signed an agreement with her, he said "nothing has changed from my perspective."
Read Sugar Loaf listed for sale: Omena man still interested in the Enterprise.
The Leelanau Enterprise had an article on the possible sale of Sugar Loaf that addresses skepticism felt by many in the community. It begins:
The co-owner of a restaurant and bar within sight of Sugar Loaf Resort says she isn't removing the "for sale" sign on her business anytime soon despite press reports that the defunct resort may soon be sold to a Leelanau County man who wants to reopen it for skiing.
“I’ll believe it when I see it,†said Karen Bardenhagen, who along with her husband, Pete Bardenhagen, owns the former Sugarfoot Saloon in Cedar...
“We’ve heard so much about what’s going to happen at Sugar Loaf over the past several years – things that turned out not to be true – that I just don’t know what to believe anymore,†Bardenhagen said.
It's probably too early toget excited, but I have to agree with Cleveland Township Supervisor Tim Stein that "At this point, any change at Sugar Loaf Resort will be a good change."
Read the rest of Sugar Loaf sale talk spurs 'cautious' hope in the Enterprise.
Tomorrow night (Wednesday, October 3) there will be an Open House at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Visitor Center auditorium from 4-7 PM to comment and review the Port Oneida Environmental Assessment (EA), a document that describes and analyzes alternative locations for a visitor contact station and employee housing, along with alternative means of improving visitor access and interpretation of Port Oneida resources. There will be a presentation by the contracting firm, JJR of Ann Arbor at 5 pm.
Click to review the Port Oneida EA. There's a link to offer comment (comment period ends October 19) and you will also want to read this article on the 4 alternatives being offered in the Leelanau Enterprise.
You may also wish to learn more about the current use of the Port Oneida Rural Historic District from the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
The Leelanau County Planning Commission invites you to join in a special presentation about environmentally sensitive design on Friday, May 25, 2007 at the MSU Horticultural Research Station. Environmentally sensitive design is a development option that landowners and local governments can use to accommodate growth, while preserving the natural resources that are so important to Leelanau County's economy and quality of life.
Speaker Robin Green will review the basics of environmental design, how she created a highly-successful planned community with these concepts, and how it could work in Leelanau County. She will also highlight an environmentally sensitive residential project she worked on with the City of Tecumseh, MI. The project involved not only reviewing plans for the site, but also included drafting a new section of the zoning code to accommodate conservation development. Speaker Deb Callison will talk about perspective and what "change" adds to your life.
There will also be a bus tour of developed and undeveloped areas in the County. The Public is invited to attend and you can register and get all the details by calling 231-256-9812 or by email to tgalla@co.leelanau.mi.us.
Photo credit: Cherry Blossoms by jfactor1.
Last week's Leelanau Enterprise had a feature further illuminating something most people were pretty darned aware of already: Sugar Loaf is a gigantic mess.
Sugar Loaf Resort owner Kate Wickstrom said this week she wasn’t aware that Cleveland Township officials have been ready and are waiting for her to submit formal plans to redevelop and reopen the defunct ski resort.
Wickstrom said Tuesday that she also wasn’t aware that Sugar Loaf Service Company – which is responsible for providing sewer service to the resort – last week filed a lien against the resort for some $94,851 plus interest that the company claims she owes.
Read Loaf delays, troubles continue in the Leelanau Enterprise.
Photo credit: Waiting for Sugar Loaf (2003) by Andy McFarlane
APRIL 1, 2007 - SOMEWHERE IN A FIELD, MICHIGAN
An unidentified Leelanau County official said today that the gold plating of the new Leelanau County Courthouse was "Well underway." When asked why such extravagant measures were necessary, the official replied "I think our commissioners have always been influenced by Egyptian architecture, and let me tell you: this gold plating really makes the building 'pop' when the sun hits it just right."
The official would not comment on the price tag but did say that contractor G.N. Omes Exotic Siding of Zurich, Switzerland was doing 'a heckuva job.'
News from Last Year...
This week's Enterprise reports on a new wrinkle in the already wrinkled tapestry that is Sugar Loaf. Cleveland Township resident and former planning commission chairman Charles J. Ryant Jr. has announced his intention to circulate a petition for a referendum on a zoning ordinance amendment that the Township Board adopted to streamline the Planned Unit Development (PUD) approval process for Sugar Loaf. Ryant apparently has issues with the lack of concessions required of developers who apply for PUDs.
The article also notes that Kings Challenge golf pro and manager Chuck Olson is now working for John Sills and that he is confident the course will open this spring. Olson did say:
"From the customer’s perspective, nothing’s going to change at the golf courses, but in terms of reuniting the golf course properties with the ski resort - what's happening now appears to be a step backward rather than a step forward."
Read Referendum plan, suit cloud Sugar Loaf’s future in the Leelanau Enterprise.
The Leelanau Enterprise reports that Suttons Bay village officials have been working to facilitate the possible creation of a new office district at the north end of the village where Phase Two of the BayView project is currently under construction. According to Suttons Bay village president Larry Mawby:
"...all of the office space we currently have in the village, and throughout most of Leelanau County, is too small to accommodate some of our fastest-growing businesses. In fact, we may lose at least one high-tech firm now operating in Leelanau County unless we can find a place for it to grow."
Read Need for more S-B office space spurs talks in the Leelanau Enterprise.
Photo Credit: Suttons Bay by Dan Geddes
