The new owners of Wave Pointe Marina & Resort on Little Sturgeon Bay in Southern Door County have a few more changes in mind for the popular vacation spot than just some upgrades.
The 24-unit resort with a 124-slip marina and restaurant was sold in early July to an entity called 3600 County Hwy CC Sturgeon Bay, LLC. Its partners are Randy Schmiedel, founder of and partner in Discovery Properties Management in Oshkosh, and Kraig Sadownikow, CEO and president of American Construction Services in West Bend. The previous owner was Ohio-based The Cadle Company II, Inc., and Schmiedel said he and Sadownikow will be more directly involved in managing Wave Pointe.
Schmiedel said he’s quite familiar with Door County and loves the Peninsula after vacationing there for years, staying in various resorts. He said he’s also been friends for about 30 years with Nancy Bertz, who co-owned and managed Stone Harbor Resort in Sturgeon Bay for about 20 years and is taking over as the new manager at Wave Pointe.
“My family’s been coming to Door County for decades,” Schmiedel said. “It’s a place that’s near and dear to my family.”
He and Sadownikow became interested in Wave Pointe when a commercial real estate broker told him it was for sale, and when he checked out the place, that really fueled his interest.
“I drove up, took a tour and immediately fell in love with it,” Schmiedel said. “It’s very strategically placed on the bluff (overlooking the bay), the view is fantastic.”
As for changes at Wave Pointe, Schmiedel said the first item on the agenda is to stabilize its operations, noting it experienced employee turnover of about 85%. Bertz is one familiar face, albeit from a different resort, and another familiar face staying on board is marina manager Chris Sixel, who has the longest tenure of any Wave Pointe employee.
Also, the resort’s restaurant, formerly called Gilmo’s Bar & Bistro, is now Harbor House Waterfront Bar & Grill. It has expanded to be open seven days a week, with a new, upgraded menu on the way. It is open to the public as well as resort and marina guests, and live bands and entertainment will continue to appear there.
After that, big changes in the resort’s operations and amenities are coming.
Schmiedel said the plan is to sell the resort’s 24 existing units – one- and two-bedroom suites with full kitchens, fireplaces, whirlpool tubs and private balconies – as condominiums, but with the future condo owners having the option to market them as rental units with Wave Pointe managing them. He said that was the idea Wave Pointe’s original developer had before it opened in 2000.
“We’re looking to go back to the original developers’ vision,” he said.
To that end, Schmiedel said they’ll update the units a little but not do a full remodel of them, instead allowing the new condo owners to remodel as they see fit, or not. Because of that, the condos will be marketed at a lower price than they otherwise might command. He said the units are in great shape but could use some updating.
“We’re going to bring the condo units out at a lower price and let the buyer do (a remodel if desired),” Schmiedel said, “instead of us presuming to know what the buyer wants.”
Schmiedel and Sadownikow also acquired an adjoining property where more resort condo units will be built and marketed under the same plan.
Between the two resort buildings will be another new structure, a kind of clubhouse and events center built on the existing Wave Pointe property on a foundation that was poured years ago but never used. It is planned to offer amenities not currently available at Wave Pointe, such as an indoor pool, fitness center, pickleball courts and a meeting or events space that can accommodate as many as 50 people. That’s in addition to existing amenities such as a heated outdoor pool, indoor hot tub and sauna, boater’s lounge, retail shop and the restaurant and bar.
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Schmiedel said the meeting and events space will be available for rent to anyone while the other amenities are specifically for resort and marina residents and guests.
Another addition will be a year-round, indoor, heated storage building across County CC where boat owners using Wave Pointe’s marina can store their vessels for the winter. Schmiedel said the marina usually has around 120 guests at the end of the vacation season, so the hope is they’ll simply keep their boats on site instead of moving them elsewhere.
Schmiedel said he hopes work will start on these projects in the fall of 2026 but that could be pushed into 2027, depending on getting all the necessary approvals from the town of Gardner, the county and other government entities.
“You’re working through the (Wisconsin) DNR, the Army Corps of Engineers, local governments. It’s a 12- to 15-month process,” he said.
The idea behind all this, Schmiedel said, is to have Wave Pointe be not just another Door County resort but one that is an attraction for visitors, even for locals looking for a good place to eat.
“We want to become a destination entertainment space,” Schmiedel said. “With the views of the bay, a stunning area, great food, whether you’re there for the short term or a long stay, we want people to come out and enjoy it.”
Wave Pointe is at 3600 County CC, Sturgeon Bay. For more information, call 920-824-5440 or visit wavepointe.com.
Contact Christopher Clough at 920-562-8900 or cclough@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Door County resort’s new owners plan some big changes. Here’s what’s on their agenda
Reporting by Christopher Clough, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Green Bay Press-Gazette
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