CLARKSBURG – The sale of two defaulting hotels in Clarksburg and Elkins will continue, according to a ruling by U.S. District Judge Irene M. Keeley.
Keeley made her decision on Nov. 28 during an evidentiary hearing in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia.
Keeley ruled that there was no ground she could find to stop the sale.
Mountain West owes $17 million in outstanding debt for two hotels to Deutsche Bank, as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes to state and local government.
The lawsuit was initially filed in May in federal court and was even sent to bankruptcy court before it was kicked back to federal court after Mountain West failed to meet deadlines.
After the motion for a temporary restraining order was denied, Mountain West filed a motion for stay and injunction pending appeal.
Mountain West moved for the injunction while an appeal to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals is pending.
The sales for the Clarksburg and Elkins properties are scheduled for Nov. 30.
“If these trustee sales are not enjoined pending the appeal, it will effectively deny the defendant’s appeal rights as the defendant will suffer irreparable harm from the sale of these properties,” the motion states.
Mountain West Hospitality is owned by William Abruzzino. Abruzzino also owns Mountain Blue Hotel Group, which is also involved in a lawsuit alleging default for its Morgantown hotel.
Abruzzino is also involved with Tara Retail Group, which owns the Crossings Mall in Elkview and was involved in bankruptcy proceedings earlier this year.
Mountain West claims that the 2012 appraisals of the properties show their value to be $21.5 million for the Clarksburg hotel and $8.7 million for the Elkins hotel.
The hotel group claims if the hotels are sold to settle the $17 million debt, they will be out $13 million in equity.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia case number: 1:17-cv-00075
