Sugar Loaf resort is scheduled for a sheriff’s auction Friday. The ski resort in Leelanau County is once again owned by Remo Polselli, who was the owner back in 2004.
Jacob Wheeler publishes the Glen Arbor Sunand says nobody expects the auction to take place. Polselli's intentions are unknown.
Wheeler says a few months ago someone paid off the back taxes on the property, suggesting the resort might sell on the real estate market.
“In other words, pay off what’s owed so the file is clear, so you can sell the property,” explains Wheeler. “But we’ve seen no sale.”
Sugar Loaf has been closed since 2000 and has witnessed a parade of colorful suitors, some with criminal records.
Signatures were allegedly forged in October in an attempt to transfer the title back to Polselli. The Leelanau County Sheriff's Department is investigating.
Wheeler says there is not much hope among residents of Leelanau County that the resort will reopen soon.
“I think people follow this partly out of remorse,” he says, “but also because it’s so complex and interesting because you have these secretive characters acting behind the scenes and we can only speculate as to what their true motives are.”
If the auction were to take place, Sugar Loaf could sell for as little as $1.3 million, far less than the resort's current $8.7 million price tag.