By Tina Alvey
Register-Herald Reporter
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Coming off a record-setting month in terms of room occupancy rates, Greenbrier CEO Jim Justice has turned his sights on a possible 300-guest-room expansion at the venerable resort.
“We set an all-time best occupancy rate in the history of The Greenbrier for August,” Justice revealed Wednesday. “And we set an all-time mark for a single month in social guests that same month — over 12,000 room nights.”
He explained social guests are those people not staying overnight in conjunction with a convention or other large group.
“People coming and being in the rooms — that’s what drives a hotel’s profits,” Justice noted.
He said the resort, which he purchased out of bankruptcy in the spring of 2009, “moved into the black (showed a profit) in a small way” in May. “June was break-even, and then July and August have been very good.”
“I don’t want to just tread water here,” he added. “We have it going the right way. It’s a tough economy, but we’re making it happen. With the grand opening of the casino and the golf tournament, the response has been really solid.”
Encouraged by this summer’s occupancy rates, Justice is now considering expansion, to the tune of 300 new guest rooms.
“We haven’t made a 100 percent decision, but we’re moving ahead on adding the rooms,” he said. “It is without question where I want us to go, but we have to ask, is it completely the right move? Right now, we’re getting the architectural work done and looking at sites to figure out the best place to add the rooms. We’re exploring an exciting possibility.”
Responding to reports that the cost of the addition is expected to run upwards of $100 million, Justice said, “That’s a pig in a poke number. There’s really no way to predict the cost at this point. It depends on where the rooms will go and many other factors.”
Other projects in the development stage for the resort are a performing arts center, an ice skating rink designed to make use of the outdoor tennis courts in the winter months and a laser tag game room.
Justice emphasized the performing arts center would be a relatively small-scale structure, between 1,500 and 2,500 square feet.
“For lack of a better term, it’ll have a Barry Manilow feel to it,” he said. “It’s for plays, live entertainment — more intimate performances.”
If all the expansion plans come to fruition, the resort will need more employees, long a stated goal for Justice.
“The fallout from all these plans is hundreds of new jobs and construction work,” he said. “It makes me feel good to be in a position to accomplish this.”
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One of the highlights of the golfers’ families’ visit at The Greenbrier during this summer’s inaugural Greenbrier Classic PGA Tour event was a tour of the farm that supplies almost all the vegetables and much of the fruit that is served in the resort’s restaurants.
Building on that success, the resort will soon be able to rely on beef produced by Greenbrier Cattle Co.
“We’re in the farming business in a big way,” Justice said, referring to his family’s extensive agricultural holdings. “The Greenbrier Cattle Co. is a registered name and has been operating under that name for a while. We’ve had the herd for a good while.”
He explained the cattle are Limousin and an Angus-Limousin cross.
“This is part of our direct farm-to-table (initiative), like with the vegetables from the Greenbrier Farm. It’s one of our green or organic ideas to help promote healthier living.
“We want to serve just the most perfect meat imaginable in our restaurants.”
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“I don’t profess to be any genius. The good Lord sort of gives me these ideas,” Justice said. “I’m just driven by the love and passion I have for this state and the people of this state.
“A little drop here and a little drop there, and before you know it, you’ve got an ocean.”
He described the recently opened $80 million Casino Club addition as one of those “little drops,” saying, “People think the casino had such a huge impact on the hotel’s profits. Not true. Just like I’ve said all along, it is an amenity, not a destination. It gives us that extra amenity, that when people are considering which resort to visit, maybe it tilts them to come to The Greenbrier.
“I don’t think the casino has made a net profit yet; it costs a lot to operate it. But it’s just fabulous; it’s absolutely beautiful. The casino works well with the ambiance of the hotel.”
— E-mail: talvey@register-herald.com
