Rocky Top Hospitality closed 1705Prime this week and will turn the North Raleigh space into a catering operation.

In addition, Rocky Top co-founder Dean Ogan bought out his business partner and is proceeding solo as the company's director of operations.

Rocky Top owns several popular restaurants, including Bogart's, Hi5, Red Room, Twisted Fork and Michael Dean's.

Its steak restaurant at 1705 E. Millbrook Road replaced the company's first restaurant, Michael Dean's, after it moved to Falls of Neuse Road in late 2006.

Despite the fact that consumer spending is down and the national restaurant industry reports slumping sales, Ogan said business at 1705Prime was up over last year.

But it was inconsistent. "Like, I had 200 people last Saturday night, but the Saturday before, I did 78," he said.

Operating the restaurant and handling the company's exploding catering business sometimes stretched resources, Ogan said.

"My problem is, I keep closing down the steakhouse for special events," Ogan said. "I just have to look at people and say, 'Sorry, I can't serve you.' "

Since 2006, Rocky Top's catering sales have grown from $300,000 to a projected $800,000 this year, including high-profile events such as this month's Democratic Party Jefferson-Jackson dinner in Raleigh's Dorton Arena.

Even counting the money spent to open 1705Prime last year, Ogan said switching to the catering business will be more lucrative. All 30 staff members from 1705Prime were offered jobs at the new catering facility or other Rocky Top restaurants.

Second closing

In a decade of restaurant development, this is the second time Rocky Top has closed a restaurant. In 2003, it opened an Italian restaurant called Vivo Ristorante in Raleigh's Glenwood South district. It stayed open for 15 months before Rocky Top turned it into the Red Room, which is still open.

Restaurant industry analyst Joel Cohen said steakhouses are still viable in this market, as evidenced by the pending addition of a Fleming's Prime Steakhouse and two new Ruth's Chris locations.

But the shift to catering business makes sense.

"Catering is a huge profit," Cohen said. "There are not a lot of great catering facilities in this city. And if it don't go ka-ching, it don't mean a thing."

The latest chapter in the ever-dynamic history of Rocky Top is coming without co-founder Kevin Summers.

The duo's first restaurant, Michael Dean's, combined Summers' middle name and Ogan's first name and opened a decade ago in 1998.

Ogan bought Summers' share of the business for an undisclosed amount -- a move that both men say was an amicable split.

"The company had grown to a size where we felt it was better to have one clear leader," Summers said.

Since leaving, Summers has bought a 33-acre property called Campbellton Landing in Fayetteville that currently has a restaurant, an outdoor supply store and an amphitheater.

He plans to add 40,000 square feet of retail space, plus a park and an inn on the Cape Fear River. He also hinted that he might be working on a project in the Triangle soon as well.

"It was just time for me to move on and do something else," Summers said.