Both Gov. Jim Justice and Omni Hotels & Resorts say there’s no truth to talk that the resort might take over operations of The Greenbrier Hotel, which is owned by the Justice family.
“The rumors are not true. There are no plans,” said Tiffani Cailor Torrence, director of corporate communications/public relations for Omni Hotels & Resorts in a Thursday email responding to a MetroNews inquiry.
Omni Hotels & Resorts operates 51 properties in the United States, including The Homestead in Hot Springs, Va., not far from the West Virginia line.
Public discussion has focused on whether Omni could be an interested buyer or operator of The Greenbrier, which has been under financial strain in several ways.
Justice gained goodwill and steps toward statewide name recognition when he bought The Greenbrier out of bankruptcy in spring of 2009. Justice, a two-term governor, is now a Republican nominee for U.S. Senate and is considered the frontrunner because of his broad name identification and West Virginia’s recent voting trends.
The Greenbrier Hotel Corp. is in a financial tangle with the credit collection company Beltway Capitol over a multi-million dollar loan default. On Thursday, a legal advertisement placed in Lewisburg’s West Virginia Daily News issued notification of a possible foreclosure sale of The Greenbrier.
The Greenbrier Hotel Corp., made up of members and associates of the Justice family, has promised to make good on a necessary payment. Representatives of the hotel corporation on Thursday characterized the legal advertisement as a procedural move — a matter of due diligence by the credit collection company timed to potentially conduct a sale the day after the money is due.
“This is nothing but a procedural matter. It will be taken care of as scheduled,” Governor Justice said Thursday, specifying that the amount still due is $22.3 million. “The Greenbrier is really, really, really important to our family.”
Other financial strains have also been apparent in recent months.
The state tax department has placed multiple liens over millions of dollars of sales taxes that The Greenbrier collected but did not remit. A couple million dollars of overdue property taxes piled up for The Greenbrier and related businesses.
Last month, the state tax department filed a lien over $403,647 in personal income taxes not withheld or passed on to the state by last Dec. 31. The Greenbrier and a union representing workers in late August announced an agreement allowing employees to keep their health insurance after employees were told weeks earlier that they would lose coverage if the hotel owners did not make good on $2.4 million in delinquent contributions plus $1.2 million in contributions that were soon to be due.
So it was up against all that context that rumors became more and more pronounced that Omni could take over Greenbrier operations.
Asked about that possibility Thursday by WSAZ television reporter Curtis Johnson, Justice said there’s no way that would happen.
“With regard to Omni, that’s just smoke and mirrors. That’s just absolutely no way,” Justice said. “No way. There is no way that Omni is buying a part of The Greenbrier, going to run The Greenbrier; there is no way.
“There is no discussion, there has been no discussion and I don’t know why in the world we run with rumors.”
Justice continued by telling reporters, “You don’t have to ask me about Omni. That’s absolutely ridiculous.”