Texas billionaire Robert Rowling, who leads TRT Holdings, the parent company of Omni Hotels & Resorts, purchased the outstanding debt on a historic luxury resort in West Virginia once owned by U.S. Sen. Jim Justice and his family businesses.
Rowling, who founded TRT Holdings in 1989, has significantly expanded the Omni Hotels & Resorts brand since buying the company in 1996. The upscale hotel chain has over 50 hotels in its portfolio spanning the United States and Canada.
Now, those holdings appear to be growing with The Greenbrier, a luxury hotel and resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.
Carter Bank & Trust completed the sale of all loans totaling more than $200 million tied to entities in which Justice has an interest, including one for The Greenbrier, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from the bank in late March.
Carter Bank was one of the lenders when Justice bought The Greenbrier in 2009. The Greenbrier is located about two hours southeast of Charleston, West Virginia, and about three hours west of Richmond, Virginia. It is one of the nation's oldest hotels and a National Historic Landmark. The site has hosted visitors since the 18th century.
Carter Bank sold the loans to an unaffiliated third party, the filing said. But public records show the buyer was TRT Holdings.
According to Greenbrier County records, an entity called White Sulphur Springs Holdings LLC, a limited liability company that shares an address with TRT Holdings at 4001 Maple Ave., suite 600, in Dallas, purchased the debt from Carter Bank. The acquisition of the first-lien loan was signed by Michael G. Smith, TRT Holdings' executive vice president of real estate and development.
TRT Holdings and Omni Hotels & Resorts did not immediately respond to calls and emails from CoStar News seeking comment.
A spokesperson for Omni Hotels & Resorts told a West Virginia media outlet that first reported the deal that the transaction was "made as part of TRT Holdings' broader business of investing across a diverse portfolio of assets."