Feb. 05–Nelson County’s Wintergreen Resort, coming off one of its best years ever, is for up for sale just two years after it was purchased by coal baron James C. Justice.

“There’s no rush or hurry to sell it,” Justice told The Associated Press. “If the right person comes along that I think is the right fit, yeah, I will sell it.”

Justice, who also owns The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., bought Wintergreen in June 2012 for an estimated $16.5 million.

He said the resort holds sentimental value because it’s one of the last places he played golf with his father, but he’s had no chance to visit. That, he said, is because of other demands, including The Greenbrier, his coal and other properties, his involvement in the PGA Tour’s Greenbrier Classic and coaching high school basketball.

“It’s like, what in the world, you own a business and you’re not even there?” Justice said. “You’re not really actively participating in the management and you’re really not enjoying your assets. I keep telling myself, I’m going to go, I’m going to go. And I just don’t make it there.”

Jones Lang LaSalle Inc., an international real estate and investment firm, is offering the residential and recreational resort alongside the Coral Beach Club and Horizons in Bermuda and Montalcino Resort in Napa Valley, Calif. The website lists the former Sonesta Resort, in Bermuda, as recently having been sold by the company.

“A business can be operating very successfully and still be up for sale, and that’s the case for Wintergreen,” General Manager Hank Thiess said. “We’ve had a great deal of success making snow and providing a good ski product and the season’s been good as far as we can see.”

No price has been advertised, and Justice declined to state one. He said he’s had multiple inquiries. Thiess said the sale will not impact operations.

The move follows a long and successful 2012-13 winter ski season and about $12 million in capital improvements, including restaurants, recreation center renovations, a 5 million-gallon water tank and new snowmaking guns for the slopes.

“The Justice Company has invested a great deal of money in our snowmaking system and upgrades, and we’ve benefited from their ownership,” Thiess said, “so our hope is that this will move forward successfully. We’re looking forward to a great weekend. We’re having a good year and the resort’s really moving in a positive direction.”

Justice had high praise for both Theiss and Wintergreen.

“It’s a heck of a property,” Justice said. “But in my world, if it’s just being something that’s making great money, that’s not good enough for me. It needs to mean more to me.”

He said he’d listen to proposals if someone wanted to operate Wintergreen, but he doubts he’d consider that.

“We would listen if somebody had a great plan for the resort, if somebody came in from Vale and they had a great plan to really improve something,” Justice said, adding, “But we don’t really do anything with partners.”

Justice sold a large portion of his coal and mining interests before buying The Greenbrier, according to Forbes Magazine. In September, Forbes estimated his worth at about $1.6 billion but noted that his coal operations have struggled, as has the mining industry.

Resort officials had begun looking into ways to attract more visitors during spring, summer and fall to augment the winter ski season. They also worked to make Wintergreen more exclusive, restricting certain areas of the resort — including the Devils Knob Golf Course, tennis facilities and restaurant — and certain services to members and resort guests.

Wintergreen also offered a limited number of memberships to non-property owners in 2013.

Brian Chase, managing broker for the official resort real estate company, Wintergreen Resort Premier Properties, said the sale bodes well for the community.

“James Justice is a consummate businessman who bought a property that was in distress and elevated it from a future uncertain to an operation with positive cash flow and no debt. This is an opportunity for an investor to capitalize on that and take it into the future,” Chase said.

He said that once the shock of the resort being for sale wears off, property and membership sales are likely to rebound and increase.

“We’re having a great ski season, a great sales season and the interest in new memberships is up,” he said. “I can look under rocks looking for something negative, but I don’t think we could find one. I think the resort will appeal to an investor who is looking toward the future.”

Jones Lang LaSalle seems to agree.

“Properties fronting a beach or sitting atop a mountain have unique qualities, values and development potential,” the company’s website states.

The real estate firm boasts Wintergreen Resort as being three hours from Washington and having 129 acres of ski terrain “and 26 trails among 11,000 pristine acres in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.”

It also touts the resort’s two golf courses, 19 clay tennis courts, aquatics and fitness center, 900-foot zip line, fly fishing, hiking and “Lake Monocan, a 20-acre lake and park, including a sandy beach, canoes and kayaks, and picnic areas.”

About 1,300 detached, single-family homes are on the mountain. In the valley, there are about 780 lots overall with about 500 homes. The rest of the lots are undeveloped. There are another 140 development rights on parcels not yet platted on the mountain.

Still, in spite of the power of the sales pitches, Justice said a sale is not necessarily a done deal.

“If the right person fits, sure we’ll sell it,” he said. “If that doesn’t happen, we’ll still own it.”

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Daily Progress staff writer Nate Delesline III and The Associated Press contributed to this story.