Jim Justice saved The Greenbrier Hotel.
The iconic luxury resort in White Sulphur Springs was on the brink of closure in 2009 when Justice bought the massive vacation complex from CSX, pulling it out of bankruptcy. Marriott was on the verge of purchasing the resort when Justice swooped in. It was reassuring that the hotel was going to be owned locally.
I remember saying at the time that Justice might have been the only West Virginian who had the means and the passion to save the historic resort, while simultaneously protecting hundreds of jobs.
But now The Greenbrier faces another crisis.
As our Brad McElhinny and others have reported, the hotel fell behind on loan payments to JPMorgan Chase. It sold the loan to McCormick 101, a credit collection company. That company posted a legal notice in the West Virginia Daily News in Lewisburg that the resort would be auctioned off on the Greenbrier County courthouse steps later this month.
Bob Wolford, a Michigan attorney hired by the Justice family, said in statement on behalf of the Justice family, “Let me be clear that the Greenbrier will not be sold and the Justice family will take all the necessary action to ensure that there will not be any adverse impact on their ownership of The Greenbrier or The Greenbrier’s operations and the ability of The Greenbrier to continue to provide world class service for its guests will be uninterrupted.”
That is reassuring, but how does the Justice family get out of this bind?
I suspect nobody, not even McCormick, wants to sell the resort at a public auction in a few days. Those kinds of fire sales rarely produce a purchase offer equal to the actual value. The Greenbrier could end up much worse off under the ownership of someone looking for a bargain.
Justice may be able to find someone or another entity that can loan him the money to satisfy the debt to McCormick. Over the years Justice has always seemed to figure out a way to keep the creditors away from the door. Maybe he can do it again this time.
Justice prides himself on keeping his dozens of businesses operating and never declaring bankruptcy, even when a financial reorganization might be the best option. He answers reporters’ questions about the family business debts with confident reassurance that it will all work out in the end.
However, this financial challenge is more significant than the many other family business debts and payment issues. We are talking about The Greenbrier, a world class resort that has hosted royalty in luxury. Its once-secret “bunker” was designed to house the country’s political leaders in the event of nuclear war. The Greenbrier accurately positions itself as “an iconic American landmark.”
The famed resort began humbly in 1778 as a “natural healing oasis” because of the spring waters, and it has gone through many iterations over the years. Twice it has served as a hospital for wounded soldiers — during the Civil War and World War II. It has survived closure and bankruptcy. The hotel’s website claims the resort is now “thriving and evolving.”
But the Greenbrier is now at another critical juncture in that evolution. Jim Justice saved The Greenbrier 15 years ago. Can he do it again or will that responsibility fall to another? Either way, let’s hope the famed resort will remain a crown jewel of West Virginia.
