1947 – Three Leelanau County men, Stanley Ball, Hans Teichner, and Art Huey, opened the Sugar Loaf Winter Sports Club. It was closed in 1950 and remained so until 1962, when Jim and Pat Ganter reopened it as Sugar Loaf Resort, eventually adding a hotel, indoor tennis, a golf course, now known as Sugarloaf, the Old Course, a 3,500-foot paved airstrip, 72 townhouses which ultimately were sold to private owners, and a wastewater treatment plant. Expansion of the slopes and addition of five chairlifts made it a modern ski area.
In 1981, High interest rates on loans and poor winter weather prompted the default on a loan and Empire Bank took over Sugar Loaf. Also, in 1981, an investment group acquired SugarLoaf for $ 7.5 million. The sale included the lodge and hotel, one golf course, the airstrip, wastewater treatment plant and 1,600 acres.
In 1997, Empire Bank reacquired the resort, but the investment group retained the golf course and the wastewater treatment facility. Also in 1997, the resort was purchased by Remo Polselli, who could not obtain its liquor license.
In 2000 the Sugar Loaf Resort closed.
In 2005, Kate Wickstrom, a graduate of Glen Lake High School in Leelanau County purchased the resort for $ 5.7 million from Polselli. In 2009, the mortgage on Sugar Loaf was assigned to a Michigan corporation known as 4500 Investments LLC and managing member Hanna Karcho-Polselli, wife of Remo Polselli.
In 2013, Wickstrom claimed that she transferred the title for Sugar Loaf back to Remo Polselli and Rock Investment Advisors.
In 2014, the property was inspected by the Leelanau County Construction Code inspector who found cosmetic damage and up to 23 violations of the county’s building codes. The deed to Sugar Loaf was recorded in Leelanau County as owned Rock Investment Advisors.
In 2015, the dilapidated indoor tennis facility, known as the Sugar Barn, which over the two previous winters had had nearly 2/3 of its roof cave in under the weight of the snows, was demolished.
In 2016, the resort was purchased by Jeff Katofsky of California.
In 2020, the resort was sold by Jeff Katofsky to an undisclosed buyer or buyers, whose agent is located in the Leland area.
In late 2021 and early 2022, the resort building along with all outbuildings and amenities including all skiing facilities were razed and the land was returned to its natural state. The only amenity remaining at this time is the runway/landing strip.
As of this writing in the second half of 2023, the new owner has not expressed any future plans he has for the property.