© 2024 Interlochen
CLASSICAL IPR | 88.7 FM Interlochen | 94.7 FM Traverse City | 88.5 FM Mackinaw City IPR NEWS | 91.5 FM Traverse City | 90.1 FM Harbor Springs/Petoskey | 89.7 FM Manistee/Ludington
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Sugar Loaf to eventually open as four-star, year-round resort

Jacob Wheeler

The owner of Sugar Loaf on the Leelanau Peninsula says it will eventually reopen as a four-star, year-round resort.

The former ski resort would have fine dining, a spa, vineyards and in-house wine among other amenities.

Jeff Katofsky bought the property last year. He told people at a public meeting today that he has not made a decision yet about downhill skiing at the resort. He says the ski equipment on site is unusable and beyond repair. 

“It’s dangerous," Katofsky says. "It doesn’t work. It cannot work. It cannot be retrofitted. It’s all going away."

He says the resort will only offer downhill skiing as an amenity if it makes financial sense. He's still working through those calculations.

Construction at the resort likely won't begin for at least two more years.

“I can’t make it go any faster," says Katofsky told the crowd. "I’m a control freak, and it drives me crazy when there are things I can’t control. ... I’m O.C.D., A.C.D., J.F.K., R.B.I. all those things.” This produced a laugh from the room. 

Katofsky estimates the building will open in 2021 or 2022 and will employ more than 300 people.

Morgan Springer is a contributing editor and producer at Interlochen Public Radio. She previously worked for the New England News Collaborative as the host/producer of NEXT, the weekly show which aired on six public radio station in the region.