Gov. Jim Justice predicts financial conflicts with The Greenbrier Hotel, which his family owns, will be resolved.
“As far as avoiding this situation or fixing this situation, absolutely I believe with all in me that it will get resolved, that it will get fixed and everything,” Justice said in response to a Friday administration briefing question by reporter Beth Sergent of the Charleston Gazette-Mail. In recent weeks, MetroNews has not been permitted to take part in the briefings because of the governor’s objections to questions about financial conflicts.
A legal advertisement placed Aug. 1 in the West Virginia Daily News in Lewisburg let the world know The Greenbrier would be set for auction on the county courthouse steps later this month, with cash from the highest bidder as the ask.
Financial giant JPMorgan Chase in April had sent a default notice to Justice and to his family businesses, saying the Justices had not lived up to the terms of a forbearance agreement they signed in late December 2023.
A few weeks ago, JPMorgan sold the financial agreements, along with a deed of trust, to the collection company McCormick 101. It was that company that moved toward a foreclosure sale of the historic Greenbrier Hotel.
“It is a problem, and we’ve got to deal with it — and it’s not very fair,” Justice said. “It almost approaches blackmail. But with that being said, we’ll deal with it. Some way, somehow we’ll deal with it. Some way, somehow we’ll get through it, and we’ll get this thing back on track. But I hate like crazy that something like this causes so much anxiousness or worry or Facebook time or whatever.”
Justice, at one point considered West Virginia’s only billionaire, built his political brand on his business acumen — and a major factor in that has been his reputation since he bought The Greenbrier out of bankruptcy in spring 2009. The hotel had lost $35 million the prior year and laid off 650 people. Marriott had a deal in place to buy the resort, but Justice swooped in to edge out the hotel chain.
“I did save The Greenbrier at one point in time, and it was in a real, real, real quagmire back in 2009 or 2010. I’ll do the same thing again,” Justice said.
The two-term governor is now a Republican nominee for U.S. Senate and is considered the front-runner because of his broad name identification and West Virginia’s recent voting trends. He is aiming to succeed Sen. Joe Manchin, an independent who still caucuses with Democrats, in an evenly divided chamber.
In an earlier written statement and then again during Friday’s live-streamed news briefing, Justice blamed political motivations for the foreclosure moves.
“It makes no sense unless it was politically driven 100%, 100%. This is all about Jim Justice running for the Senate. This is all about Jim Justice being the one that flips the United States Senate. This is what this is all about. It’s not about anything but that. It’s about trying to twist Jim Justice or hurt Jim Justice from a political standpoint. There is no question it’s about anything but that,” Justice said, without providing additional details about why lenders would have that motivation.
“If it were not that, would you not think that we would have gotten a call from JPMorgan saying we’re going to sell this loan?” Justice’s family-owned business network has a range of financial challenges. Justice’s most recent mandatory Senate financial disclosure reflects personal liabilities amounting to $158 million or more.
The major one is personal liability of more than $50 million to his family’s longtime banker, Carter Bank & Trust, denoted as due upon demand.
A line of credit from the collection company McCormick 101, which holds The Greenbrier deed, is listed at $25 million to $50 million.
Meanwhile, the state Tax Department still has several sales tax liens on The Greenbrier. Two of those amounting to $897,615 were released in recent weeks. The Greenbrier still has five liens remaining, adding up to $2,752,907 Friday, Justice briefly acknowledged financial challenges.
“I’m not going to deny this at all. There’s times when things have been really tough,” he said.
In response to an element of a reporter’s question about the possibility of a bankruptcy declaration, Justice said he hopes the situation does not lead to that.
“Let’s hope like crazy that bankruptcy doesn’t come on the table,” Justice said.
