The Congressional Nuclear Bunker Is for Sale Because of a Defaulted Loan

The Greenbrier Hotel, an iconic West Virginia landmark that was once the site of the Congressional nuclear bunker, is for sale to the highest bidder. The reason? West Virginia Governor Jim Justice defaulted on the loan.

The world learned the Greenbrier was for sale after the people holding the bag for the loan put a legal advertisement in the West Virginia Daily News. The notice said that anyone who wants the hotel complex and the grounds will be buying it as is, are responsible for the substantial back taxes, and will have to have cash in hand on the day of sale.

“The undersigned Substitute Trustee will sell the real estate described in the Deed of Trust, at a public auction on August 27, 2024 at 2 p.m. to the highest bidder at the front door of the Courthouse of said County of Greenbrier, in Lewisburg, West Virginia,” the notice said.

Justice, who is in the midst of a run for the Senate, blamed Democrats for his fumbling of the loan. Justice bought the Greenbrier in 2009 after the hotel went bankrupt and it’s been a headache ever since. JPMorgan Chase lent Justice $142 million for the property in 2014. According to a statement from the governor, the two parties had been negotiating a reduction of the debt since 2021.

JPMorgan sold the debt to Beltway Capital in July. The new owners immediately called in the loan.

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, WV – JULY 14: A resort employee passes by the Hotel Blast Door, which weighs 18 tons and serves as an entrance to a former government relocation facility, also known as “the bunker,” at Greenbrier Resort July 14, 2006 in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

“ANOTHER POLITICAL STUNT BY THE DEMOCRAT MACHINE,” the Governor’s statement read in all caps. “In recent days, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon’s staunch ties to the Democrat party and his support for the Biden-Harris administration and continued control of the Senate by the Democrats have been well documented. This political stunt is just the latest of several rounds of attacks on Governor Justice and his businesses for political gain.”

The Greenbrier is a historic landmark whose history is woven into the fabric of America. The sulfur spring water in the land has been a destination for those seeking relaxation and healing since the late 1700s. In the 1950s, Washington excavated huge chunks of the land and dug out a bunker that Congress would use in the event of a full-scale nuclear war.

The bunker is still there and tourists can walk its narrow corridors and see the bunk beds senators and congresspeople would have slept on if a war had broken out. There’s a fake Rose Garden room for press conferences, a make-shift Senate chamber, and exercise bikes outfitted with ashtrays.

Bethesda created a nearly 1-to-1 copy of the Greenbrier in its video game Fallout 76, which is set in a post-apocalyptic West Virginia. Ahead of the launch of the game, Bethesda held a large press event at the Greenbrier and threw a party in the bunker.

Now that historic landmark is up for sale, despite full-throated pushback from Justice. “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, an attorney working on behalf of the Justice family, said in a statement.