Abandoned Sugar Loaf ski resort is sold in northern Michigan

Ski chair lift (Pixlr)

CEDAR, Mich. – A once-popular former ski resort in northern Michigan has been sold, again.

The Sugar Loaf property in Cedar was sold to a private buyer, according to a report in the Traverse City Record-Eagle published Tuesday.

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The sale was listed on a warranty deed recorded by the Leelanau County Register of Deeds.

Sugar Loaf, northwest of Traverse City, was once the county’s largest employer. The resort, which includes a golf course, lodging and an airstrip, closed in 2000.

Real estate adviser Ross Satterwhite assisted the buyer in evaluating the property. He will help plan and coordinate demolition of the resort’s hotel, according to an email forwarded to the newspaper.

Demolition and cleanup of the site is expected to start when plans, bids and permits are in place.

“Unfortunately, this property has been left abandoned and has been a blight in the community for far too long, and it will be good for the nearby residents and community, in general, to have the property back under active ownership,” Satterwhite wrote in an email.

Real estate developer Jeff Katofsky bought Sugar Loaf in 2016 with plans to invest $134 million into the property and turn it into a year-round high-end resort.

Taxes owed on the property recently were paid.

“We had some idea this was in the works, but we didn’t know what it was exactly,” Cleveland Township Supervisor Tim Stein said of the recent sale.

Related: Alpine Valley ski resort prepares to open