FILE - The Greenbrier Hotel, a five-star resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., is seen on Nov. 30, 1998. West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, is in a fight to keep his iconic Greenbrier Hotel. (AP Photo/Jon C. Hanco*ck, File)
CHARLESTON — Officials representing Gov. Jim Justice’s Greenbrier Resort have accused a major bank and a loan acquisition company of engaging in politics by foreclosing on the historic hotel and placing it on the auction block later this month, but court records show a history of non-payment on a loan for the hotel.
Last week, Marland-based Beltway Capital Management announced in a legal ad in the Lewisburg-based West Virginia Daily News that the White Sulphur Springs-based Greenbrier Resort being will be auctioned off on Tuesday, Aug. 27, after the loan acquisition company declared the loan sold to them from JPMorgan Chase Bank in default and commenced foreclosure proceedings.
According to representatives of Justice’s companies, the loan — originally owed to JPMorgan Chase Bank — was paid down to $9.4 million with the most recent payment in June. The original promissory note was made between Justice and JPMorgan in 2014 for $142 million with a new mutual agreement made in 2021 after Justice pledged a second lien position for the resort behind Virginia-based Carter Bank and Trust to obtain better terms on the JPMorgan loan.
McCormick 101 LLC — associated with Capital Beltway Management — filed suit on July 18 in the Supreme Court of the State of New York against Gov. Justice, James C. Justice Companies Inc., Justice Holdings LLC, GSR LLC, Wintergreen Partners Inc., and the Greenbrier Hotel Corporation. McCormick 101 is seeking $40.3 million from Justice and his companies, any interest and late charges that accrue since July 15 along with attorney fees.
According to civil court filings, JPMorgan and Justice had entered into six amended forbearance agreements over the years, with the most recent being agreed to on Dec. 29, 2023. According to an April 2 letter to Gov. Justice from JPMorgan, multiple defaults by Justice caused the remaining loan amount to become due immediately.
“By giving the notice contained herein, you should not in any way anticipate that any other notice not expressly required under the Loan Documents and Sixth Amended Forbearance Agreement shall be given in the future,” wrote JPMorgan Managing Director Gregg Gunselman.
According to the filing, Justice was unable to pay the full loan amount by the June 28 maturity date. JPMorgan transferred the Justice Greenbrier loan to Beltway Capital/McCormick 101 on July 2. According to McCormick 101, the remaining principal of the loan as of July 15 was $24.1 million and the interest was $16.2 million.
“Defendants failed to pay all of the amounts due and owing under the Loan and Loan Documents and thereby are in default of their obligations thereunder,” attorneys for McCormick 101 wrote in their filing. “Defendants’ failure to repay the Loan in full constitutes a breach of the Loan Documents.
Justice bought the Greenbrier in 2009 from rail company CSX. Since Justice first took office in 2017, Jill Justice — the governor’s daughter — runs the Greenbrier while Justice serves as the state’s chief executive, though Justice is still listed as CEO.
According to the governor’s 2024 U.S. Senate financial disclosure report filed July 13, first lady Cathy Justice is operations advisor at the resort, earning less than $1,000 in earned income. The Greenbrier asset is listed as worth more than $50 million. The governor lists a 5.8% on-demand line of credit between $25 million and $50 million from McCormick 101.
The Greenbrier is one of 147 assets listed on Justice’s U.S. Senate financial disclosure report and one of 108 companies listed on Justice’s 2024 financial disclosure report with the West Virginia Ethics Commission.
Justice company executives accused JPMorgan and Beltway Capital of playing politics by transferring the loan and putting the loan in default. Bob Wolford, an attorney representing Justice, pushed back on the effort to auction off the Greenbrier.
“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,” Wolford said last week.
“Gov. Justice and the Justice Companies will vigorously defend their position and take necessary protective action while they continue to evaluate significant damage claims against JPMorgan Chase and the other parties involved,” Wolford continued.
Justice, wrapping up his second and final four-year term as governor, is the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate for the seat held by the retiring U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va. He faces Democratic opponent and former Wheeling mayor Glenn Elliott in November.
“Imagine the level of incompetence it took for (Justice) to inherit hundreds of millions of dollars, buy a hotel with tens of millions of dollars of state subsidies and tax breaks, add a casino, and have this be the result,” Elliott said last week on X (formerly known as Twitter).
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