The Greenbrier has received last-minute license renewal for its casino, although it’s going to be on a heightened level of quarterly reports about finances.
The historic resort had to sweat it out after submitting mandatory financial information for an annual audit on Monday. The audit information was originally due about March 20, an internal deadline used to ensure enough time before the June 30 license expiration.
The Lottery Commission took a vote to not renew the casino license on Friday, The Greenbrier submitted its financial information on Monday and the Lottery Commission had an emergency meeting by telephone today — all up against the possibility that the casino would have to go dark if the license would lapse today at month’s end.
The emergency meeting to assure Greenbrier casino activity could continue was noticed as necessary “to prevent any disruption in services or revenue that could adversely affect the financial stability of the State of West Virginia.”
“I’m glad that we’ve come to a good conclusion and move forward with this and have no impact to the to the people of West Virginia that are familiar and take part in the Greenbrier’s activity,” said Kenneth Greear, chairman of the Lottery Commission.
The Greenbrier’s casino was established in 2010, a year after the historic hotel was purchased out of bankruptcy by Jim Justice, a former governor now serving as a U.S. senator, and his family. The casino brings in millions of dollars a year as a tourism destination, employer and tax source.
Steve Ruby, a Charleston lawyer representing The Greenbrier, expressed appreciation for reviewing the financial information and renewing the casino license “on a little bit of a compressed time frame.”
“We’re very grateful for the fine work that the commission and the staff always do,” Ruby said.
Chris Lambert, outside financial consultant with the accounting firm Suttle & Stalnaker, said revenues for The Greenbrier casino were almost $15 million for 2025 with expenses of $7.8 million with a net income of $6.9 million, consistent with prior reports.
The report revealed some financial questions, though.
The audit showed that Justice Family Group, which holds the casino and other Greenbrier properties, has more than a half-billion dollars in total assets.
“The one thing that’s continued to grow for them is the notes receivable related party,” Lambert said, describing a written promissory note representing a loan or transaction between affiliated parties.
“And really, what that means is that they have taken money out of the hotel, out of the entity, and loaned it to other related parties that are controlled by the Justice family.”
Someone on the call laughed out loud at that.
Furthermore, Lambert said, “current liabilities went from approximately $90 million in ’24 to $260 million in 2025, so some issues there, because we have negative working capital, about $240 million.
“Moving down to the income statement, though, you know, the revenue was approximately $158 million, and income for the year was just over $9 million, so they are profitable. It is a decrease in the prior year, but they are profitable.”
Lambert said he had no reservations about recommending the license renewal. But he recommended the facility go on a watch “until they have their debt refinanced so that we can see that has normalized and stabilized.”
Michelle Painter, the Lottery’s chief financial officer, said she had also reviewed the financial statements “and I do agree with what he says about the working capital,” referring to the measure of a business’s short-term financial health and liquidity. “But as you pointed out, they are profitable.
“I also concur with putting them on financial watch for a few reasons: The fact that the report was late. We did expect it in March. Also, the fact that they stated numerous times that they’ve had quite a bit of turnover in our financial department with staff. And the working capital issue.”
Financial watch, she said, “would mean that we would expect them to submit to us quarterly an audited income statement for the casino to be reviewed by Suttle & Stalnaker. So we would like to see the first one like middle of September, early October.”
In a separate legal conflict, The Greenbrier’s owners have been in an ongoing dispute with the owners of the Omni Hotels & Resorts chain.
The Omni owners bought more than $300 million in first-lien debt on The Greenbrier and associated properties. The Omni affiliate White Sulphur Springs Holdings has moved in federal court for a third-party receiver to oversee the property, which it considers to be collateral.
A theme of Omni’s legal arguments is that current resort ownership has all kinds of financial tangles, including shifting funds.
“WSSH has become aware of public reports that Defendants James C. Justice, II, Cathy L. Justice, and James C. Justice, III (the “Justice Defendants”) have misappropriated revenue from the Greenbrier Resort and diverted it to their other, unrelated businesses,” lawyers wrote last month in an amended emergency motion for a receiver.
The federal lawsuit is on hold to allow time for the Justices to pursue a refinancing deal of up to $500 million.