The Greenbrier Hotel Corp., led by Gov. Jim Justice and his family, announced it has satisfied its financial obligation to a credit collection company, averting the foreclosure sale of the historic West Virginia resort.
The hotel corporation’s debt to Beltway Capital has been paid in full, the hotel corporation announced on Tuesday evening. The family-owned company’s statement described a “significant achievement comes as part of the family’s ongoing commitment to ensure the long-term stability and prosperity of their holdings, including The Greenbrier Resort.”
Following the payment in full, the auction sale of The Greenbrier Resort that had been scheduled for next week, Oct. 25, has been cancelled and fully withdrawn
The statement from The Greenbrier Hotel Corp. noted that the Justices made all required payments well in advance of their due dates under a settlement agreement that was announced in August. “This proactive approach has not only strengthened the Justice family’s financial position, but also reaffirmed their dedication to the future of The Greenbrier Resort and Glade Springs Resort.”
The Greenbrier statement did not specify the source of the money to satisfy Beltway Capital. Sources indicated the financing to satisfy the debt came through an agreement with Fortress Investment Group, an enormous equity firm.
“We are excited to have successfully paid in full our obligations to Beltway Capital and look forward to the future of The Greenbrier and Glade Springs,” stated Jill Justice and Jay Justice, the daughter and son of the governor who are officers of The Greenbrier Hotel Corp.
“This will allow us to invest further in our operations and enhance the experiences we provide to our guests. We appreciate the continued support from our partners, the patience of our valued team members, for whom we know this was a stressful period, and we look forward to welcoming visitors for many years to come.”
The Greenbrier, which dates back to 1778, is considered a National Historic Landmark set in the Appalachian Mountains in White Sulphur Springs, where people came to take the sulfuric waters. A total of 28 presidents have stayed at the hotel, including Dwight Eisenhower. The hotel property is also the site of an underground bunker that was meant to serve as an emergency shelter for members of Congress, if necessary, during the Cold War. Today visitors can take tours of the bunker.
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. wound up in a financial tangle with the credit collection company Beltway Capital over a multi-million dollar loan default. Last Thursday, a legal advertisement placed in Lewisburg’s West Virginia Daily News issued notification of a possible foreclosure sale of The Greenbrier.
The property that could have been auctioned constituted 60.5 acres, although that does not include the entire Greenbrier Hotel complex. It generally includes the hotel itself and the parking. The balance of the property like golf courses, tennis and medical facilities are owned by other Greenbrier-related entities.
The Greenbrier Hotel Corp. promised to make good on a necessary payment. Representatives of the hotel corporation last week 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 last week, specifying that the amount still due is $22.3 million. “The Greenbrier is really, really, really important to our family.”
The potential for a public auction of the resort was first announced August 1, because of default on the terms of a longstanding loan through the financial giant JPMorgan Chase.
The deed of trust in the Greenbrier Resort financial dispute was originally recorded in 2014 with JPMorgan Chase Bank as the lender. It was originally recorded securing a promissory note made by James C. Justice II, the borrower and now the governor. The note that it secured was for $142 million.
There are differences in what each party has said was owed most recently — as well as a parting of the ways.
The Greenbrier Hotel Corp has maintained that it had been working in good faith with JPMorgan under a mutual agreement since 2021 and under that agreement the debt to JPMorgan had been reduced to $9.4 million.
A few weeks before this summer’s first announced auction, JPMorgan sold loan documents including the deed of trust to a credit collection company, a McCormick 101, which is associated with Beltway Capital.
After buying the loan documents from JPMorgan and declaring default, Beltway Capital has been asking for what remains of the loan, which its lawyers calculate to be $24 million in principal and $16 million in interest.
The first announced sale was then halted August 22 after The Greenbrier Hotel Corporation said it had reached an agreement with the credit collection company behind the foreclosure sale.
The family-owned corporation announced at the time, “Beltway Capital will receive a specific amount to be paid in full by October 24, 2024, which Justice has already secured this funding. Beltway reserves its rights if the Justice family fails to perform. Upon full performance, all issues concerning The Greenbrier and Glade Springs are concluded.”
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.