Las Vegas-based entrepreneur and reality show star Liko “Sean” Smith plans to reopen Leelanau County’s Sugar Loaf Resort.
Smith’s The Block snowboarder hotel was the focus of a reality show titled The Block on the G4 network. Smith is investing millions into the long-shuttered property, and he plans to have 100 rooms open at the hotel by July 4. Ski lifts could open as soon as December. The once-popular resort, which sits on several hundred acres in Cleveland and Centerville townships, closed in 2000 amid financial troubles.
Smith is expected to spend $10 million to purchase the entire resort, an attached golf course and a supporting water treatment plant. The Arnold Palmer-designed course at the resort was recently purchased by another entity and will not be included in the deal. Smith discovered the resort after vacationing in Traverse City.
“I'm not a ski resort person. I need a partner,” Smith said in the Traverse City Record-Eagle. “We need a partner that's going to come in that knows the ski resort business like the back of their hand. The Midwest ski resort business, not California, not Colorado.”
