Source From: Iconic Greenbrier Hotel listed for public auction due to defaulted loan
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. (WCHS) — The Greenbrier Hotel, owned by West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and his family, could be going up for auction later this month, according to a legal advertisement placed in a Lewisburg newspaper.
The Notice of Trustee’s Sale placed in the West Virginia Daily News calls for a public sale on the Greenbrier County Courthouse steps at 2 p.m. on Aug. 27 due to a loan declared to be in default.
The governor’s family and JPMorgan had been working in good faith under a mutual agreement since 2021 to successfully reduce the debt by $9.4 million, according to a statement from the Justice family.
At the beginning of July, the governor said his family was notified by JPMorgan that their loan, originally for $142 million, had been sold to Beltway Capital who immediately declared the loan to be in default, the statement said.
The action led to Beltway Capital beginning foreclosure proceedings against The Greenbrier Hotel Corp. The foreclosure constitutes only the 60.5 acres of the hotel and parking area and not the entire complex, according to reporting from MetroNews.
The statement released overnight on behalf of the Justice family called the move a “political stunt” by JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon who has alleged ties to the Democratic Party. The statement also said the Greenbrier would not be sold.
“Let me be clear that the Greenbrier will not be sold, and the Justice family will take all 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” Bob Wolford of Miller Johnson, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on behalf of the governor and his companies, said.
Justice bought the historic Greenbrier out of bankruptcy in 2009. The resort, which dates back to the 1700s, is considered a National Historic Landmark and is known as a picture of luxury across the country.
The Justice family has been involved in several financial issues regarding the property in recent years, including a similar issue where a Carter Bank & Trust tried to collect on a $300 million loan debt that led to The Greenbrier Sporting Club being announced up for auction. The auction was eventually put off after the Justice family filed a lawsuit that allowed the two sides to negotiate.
The West Virginia Democratic Party released a statement on the proposed auction on Thursday afternoon saying the situation is not political play but the governor’s “reckless financial behavior.
“The Democratic Party had nothing to do with the Governor’s failure to pay his creditors, including the millions owed the state tax department on sales tax receipts from the Greenbrier,” Democratic Party Chair Mike Pushkin said. “In fact, the Governor has treated sales tax receipts like a line of credit, choosing to use the money owed taxpayers to pay other bills.”
The press release also addressed his statement about Dimon having ties to Democrats.