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May 12, 2005Fla. developer buys golf coursesVacant land, treatment plant also purchasedByRecord-Eagle business editor CEDAR - Sugar Loaf Resort has more new owners after the sale of two golf courses and other property. The second major sale in less than two months was announced Wednesday by Ed Fleis, a Florida developer and Leelanau County native, as the resort tries to rebound from years of financial struggles. The 450-acre deal includes the Sleeping Bear and King's Challenge golf courses, about 140 acres of vacant land and the wastewater treatment plant that services the resort's properties. The purchase price was not disclosed. Fleis said his plans are to upgrade golf facilities while planning for residential development around the site - and to work with the new owner of the lodge and ski facilities to revive it as a year-round attraction. Fleis and partner Brian Sculthorp, a native of Scotland, developed three residential communities in Florida. "We've gone through this very cautiously and carefully ... we're excited about it," Fleis said. "There is some great land up there, and some great views." The resort's lodge and ski area were sold in a separate transaction in late March to Kate Wickstrom, another Leelanau County native and executive director of a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center based in Battle Creek. The new ownership at the long-troubled resort is generating optimism in the community, where some residents long for its days as a popular, four-reason resort. "Just taking a step in a forward direction is great ... it's been two steps back and one step sideways for 20 years now," said Mark Fisher, a longtime Cleveland Township planning commissioner. The original Sugar Loaf course dates to the late 1960s and was Leelanau County's first public golf course. King's Challenge was designed by golfing legend Arnold Palmer and opened in 1998. The golf property was sold to Fleis by a trio of downstate businessmen led by John D. Sills, a Bloomfield Hills attorney. In 1997, Sills sold Sugar Loaf's lodge and ski facilities, which closed three years later because of ongoing financial problems. The two golf courses continued to operate since then. Golf course general manager Chuck Olson said the new owners want to make it a "world-class golf destination" measuring up to the area's top courses.
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