After a decade in development and two years in operation, the Inn at the Black Olive was slated to change hands on March 21. The sale, however, was likely not what the owners had hoped for when the eco-friendly boutique hotel opened in 2010: The property was on the block in a foreclosure auction. Before the gavel fell on any bids, the owners chose to stop the auction by filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
The hotel’s owners, a family of Baltimore restaurateurs, defaulted on their $5.4 million mortgage in January. While the property is assessed at just $3.3 million, the hotel has garnered national publicity as a luxury “green” project. High ratings from travelers earned the Inn the #3 spot on TripAdvisor’s 2013 Travelers’ Choice Awards list of America’s best small hotels.
The economic downturn has left scores of travel-related businesses in trouble. The Inn’s high-end finishes were accompanied by a high-end price tag that, apparently, tourists could not support in a city that has an abundance of hotel rooms.
Rather than seeing the project go to someone who would not maintain its service and eco-minded philosophy, the owners are hoping to spend the next few weeks looking for financing. Court records indicate the holding company, Black Olive Development Co. LLC, owes between $1 million and $10 million on assets worth as much as $50,000.
A representative of the company said that liquidation is just one of many options. If financing turns up or if the owners’ circumstances change, the Chapter 7 may be converted to a Chapter 11 filing. Whatever happens, the representative said, will happen quickly.
In the meantime, the hotel will stay open for business. For visitors to Baltimore, there will still be rooms at the Inn.
Sources: Baltimore Business Journal, “Inn at the Black Olive auction cancelled after hotel files for bankruptcy,” Sarah Meehan, March 21, 2013