Hope Hotel to pay some of debt to get out of bankruptcy

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE — The owner of the Hope Hotel and Conference Center, in its plan to emerge from bankruptcy reorganization, proposes to pay some of its unpaid sales tax debt to Ohio, but none of a disputed bill from a contractor.

Visicon Shareholders Trust, owner of the hotel located on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, also offers either a $4 million lump-sum payment within a year after emerging from bankruptcy proceedings, or a 10-year repayment term, to the largest creditor, mortgage holder GCCFC Dayton Hotel and Conference Center LLC. The current mortgage amount is about $7.4 million, said David Meyers, the hotel owner who serves as trustee of Visicon Shareholders Trust.

Visicon’s second-largest debt is $279,368.70 in sales taxes owed to Ohio for 2006, 2007 and 2009, according to the trust’s filings in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Under the reorganization plan filed Feb. 3, Visicon proposes to pay 35 percent of Ohio’s tax claims “as payment in full” within five years of emerging from reorganization.

The Ohio Department of Taxation and state attorney general routinely consider such offers in bankruptcy cases, said Gary Gudmundson, spokesman for the tax department. Gudmundson said he could not comment specifically on this case.

Visicon said it would pay nothing toward a $36,218.48 claim from Bertchlynn Properties LLC, a Beavercreek contractor, for a 2006 exterior insulation and finish project on the hotel’s interior. Visicon contends that the job was botched, it had to hire someone to finish the work and incurred additional expenses. Bertchlynn has said it wants to be paid.

The hotel filed in June 2010 for Chapter 11 reorganization, which allows an entity to continue operating under bankruptcy court protection from creditors while developing a plan to put its finances in order. The hotel’s filing came after its occupancy rate fell. The hotel leases the land from the Air Force under a 40-year deal.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Guy Humphrey of Dayton has scheduled an April 5 hearing to consider approval of Visicon’s reorganization plan. It is subject to challenges from creditors.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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