Long-Awaited Reawakenings: Leelanau County Businesses Plot Returns

Numerous long-gestating projects in Leelanau County are finally nearing the finish line. From the reborn Northern Latitudes Distillery to the reimagined Blue Bird Restaurant, we have the latest on these projects and other news from around the county.

Northern Latitudes

It’s been more than two years since the Leelanau Ticker first reported on the plans at Northern Latitudes Distillery (NLD) to build a new 12,000-square-foot production and tasting room facility at 7159 East Duck Lake Road in Lake Leelanau. Now owner Mark Moseler says an opening is finally in sight.

“We are shooting for a grand opening on Friday, October 24,” Moseler tells The Ticker. “Of course, this is nebulous, but we think that will be the case.”

Ahead of that tentative date, NLD has scheduled a pair of “Insider’s Opening” events for this coming weekend. Those “pre-grand opening” events are $100 per person, with the ticket price including “insider tours of the new distillery, a tasting buffet of our upcoming menu, drink tickets, new spirit sampling, live music, exclusive discounts, and even a little NLD swag to take home.” Tickets for the Saturday session are sold out, but the Sunday event still has some spots available.

Construction on the new tasting room kicked off in September 2023, but delays meant a period of limbo for NLD, which had to vacate its old space at 112 East Philip Street this past January. That building is now occupied by Locals Lake Leelanau.

Without a production facility, NLD was required by the Michigan Liquor Control Commission to put its small distiller’s license in escrow starting at midnight on June 15. Ever since, the distillery has been barred from selling its spirits, including at its satellite tasting room in Suttons Bay. That escrow period is now officially over, NLD announced on Facebook last week, which means cocktails and bottle sales are back on the menu at the Suttons Bay tasting room.

The Blue Bird

Another long dormant business, The Blue Bird of Leland, is also showing signs of life. The restaurant, closed since 2022, reopened with a limited to-go menu this past weekend, describing the soft reset as “stretching our legs while we wait for a few remaining things to fall into place.”

Blue Bird co-owner Skip Telgard did not respond to requests for comment about a more specific reopening timeline.

Paddle Courts of Leelanau

The nonprofit organization working to build a pair of platform tennis courts at Dune Bird Winery in Northport is also approaching project completion. Paddle Courts of Leelanau (PCOL) announced that vision early last year, outlining a private club concept that will mostly be members-only, but with perks for Dune Bird customers.

Platform tennis, alternately known as “paddle tennis,” is defined by the American Platform Tennis Association (APTA) as “an outdoor racquet sport that combines elements of tennis, squash, and racquetball.” The calling card for the game is a raised platform court, with heaters situated below to "to keep the playing surface clear of snow and ice.”

PCOL board member Pam Kelley tells The Ticker the organization has a lease with Dune Bird and a deposit and site plan with “one of the two builders for paddle courts” in the United States. “So, all systems are go from our end, and we're just awaiting our building permits,” she says. PCOL also has 57 founding members who have already given money to the organization, as well as two donated courts, a $25,000 grant, and a locked-in buildout price that was set “prior to the whole tariff influence” – all factors Kelley says will help with the financial lift of establishing the new facility.

Had Dune Bird not changed hands last year, Kelley says the courts might already have been open. “I would say we lost about a year,” she notes. “Nothing bad happened, it just was time: the time for the new owners to buy [the winery], the time to then sit down with the new owner and draw up a new lease. All that took us to probably the end of January.”

PCOL is still hoping to get the new courts in place by the end of the year, though Kelley admits the timeline depends on the weather when the permits come through.

Other Leelanau business news:

>Temporarily closed due to a fire, NJ’s Grocery in Lake Leelanau is inching toward a reopening. The grocery store indicated in a recent Facebook comment that it was eyeing November for getting up and running again, though the business tells The Ticker the timeline is “dependent on when the construction completes.” In the meantime, NJ’s plans to bring its Indian takeout brand Currysome back in the first week of November. Following the fire at NJ’s, Currysome and its “fully cooked, refrigerated Indian meals designed for a grab-and-go lifestyle” briefly appeared in Leelanau County stores like the Leland Mercantile, Hansen Foods in Suttons Bay, and Anderson’s Market in Glen Arbor, but has been on pause since Labor Day.

>Bahle’s Annex, the outdoor clothing clearance store for one of Leelanau’s most well-known retail brands, is set to close its doors at the end of this month. The Suttons Bay shop has been operating for 40 years. The main Bahle's store remains open. 

>Still for sale, Ciccone Vineyard and Winery in Bingham Township recently got a price drop to $3.2 million. The listing includes the winery, 96 acres of land, and a five-bedroom home. The property was initially listed in the summer of 2023 for $4,925,000.

>Also for sale is Broomstack Kitchen & Taphouse in Maple City. The listing – which only includes the business, not the real estate itself – carries an asking price of $149,900, and touts Broomstack as a “turnkey restaurant” with a “coveted Class C liquor license.” Notably, last year, the property that houses both Broomstack and the attached Leelanau Curling Club, located at 172 West Burdickville Road, hit the market for $1,350,000.