A "show cause" hearing is scheduled for Jan. 17 in Lansing and a judicial foreclosure hearing is scheduled for Feb. 7 in circuit court in Leland. "The tax law is certainly applying additional pressure on [Pacific XIX chief executive officer Roma] Polselli to sell the resort quickly," says John Sills, a Birmingham attorney who is a former part owner of the resort. Sills has also had a legal and financial interest in a sewage treatment plant, two adjacent golf courses and other properties in the Sugar Loaf area that are currently up or sale as well.

Although Pacific XIX owes only $16,647 in taxes for 2002 on Sugar Loaf Resort, a property estimated to be worth at least $5 million, the Leelanau County treasurer, Vicki Kilway, reports many other parties appear to have a liens or claims against the property as well. Meanwhile, one prospective new owner of Sugar Loaf Resort, Kate Wickstrom, says she hopes to close on her purchase of the resort by mid-January and plans to revive downhill skiing at the resort for the 2005-06 season.

According to reports, two Florida real estate developers--Brian Sculthorp and Ed Fleis--have indicated they intend to purchase two adjacent golf courses, the sewage treatment plant and other properties in the Sugar Loaf area as soon as Wickstrom completes her purchase of the resort. The two groups say they want to work together to transform Sugar Loaf into year-round venue. Sugar Loaf Resort has been closed for skiing since March 2000.