Undisclosed Buyer Emerges for Condemned McLure House

Sale of Historic Hotel Property Could Take Place by Sept. 4

Photo by Eric Ayres

WHEELING -- Municipal Court Judge Jeffrey Miller on Wednesday found that the owner of the condemned McLure House hotel in downtown Wheeling appeared to have made a good-faith effort to sell the property to a potential buyer.

Although the buyer’s name has not been disclosed, paperwork presented to the court Wednesday indicated that the purchase process is underway and that a closing date has been set for Sept. 4.

The owner of the historic McLure House -- also known as the McLure Hotel and Conference Center at 1200 Market St. -- is FA Management Corp. Inc., which is headed by businesswoman Fran Garey. The hotel has remained closed because of various code violations cited by the city, which led to a condemnation order in November 2024 declaring the property "dangerous and unsafe."

Earlier this year, the city’s Building and Planning Department and City Solicitor’s Office sought legal remedies regarding the property, outlining 13 code violations identified during previous inspections. In April, Miller found the defendant guilty of nine of those counts, determining that some violations cited in the city’s complaint were "duplicitous."

Wheeling City Solicitor Rosemary Humway-Warmuth argued that the historic hotel in downtown Wheeling remained vacant because the current owner had not taken steps to address the violations, reopen the property or move forward with a sale to potential buyers who could complete the necessary work.

Humway-Warmuth suggested a $1 million fine be imposed against Garey and the McLure property ownership but said the city would accept a $250,000 fine if the owner either sold the property or demonstrated an "extremely good-faith effort" to sell it within 90 days. The court agreed.

Because of the findings of guilt, the court in April imposed a $1 million fine against the owner but suspended payment until Aug. 5, the first building code docket after the three-month period given to sell the property.

Although the city had received no indication that work had been completed on the property or that a potential sale was moving forward, Garey’s attorney, David Delk, appeared on her behalf during Wednesday’s hearing and presented a document indicating the sale was pending with a closing date set for Sept. 4.

The confidential document was shown to the judge but was not entered into the court record, nor was a copy provided to city officials. Delk declined to comment following Wednesday’s hearing regarding the potential sale.

"I think a signed buyout agreement -- signed by all parties and a closing within the next 30 days -- is certainly good-faith progress," Miller told attorneys Wednesday. "There’s going to be a penalty -- there’s no question that there’s going to be a penalty. The only question is how much. I can tell you now, it’s going to be a minimum of $250,000 no matter what the circumstances. If it’s sold tomorrow, it would still be $250,000."

Miller said the fine could be higher depending on how the situation develops over the next month.

"They have at least made good-faith progress in getting the property sold," Miller said. "Now, we’ve seen this before from Ms. Garey with things falling apart at the last minute, so that’s why I’m going to take a kind of wait-and-see approach."

The proceedings were continued to a later date because of the potential sale. Another hearing is expected to be scheduled during the week of Sept. 7.

"There still have been no permits issued, and nobody has contacted the city since the last hearing to have a walkthrough with any potential buyers," Humway-Warmuth said. "The city is more than willing to do that, but we weren’t even aware that there were potential buyers -- we just learned of this today.

"We certainly want that property in someone else’s hands as something that will be redeveloped."

If the property is sold, the parties previously agreed that the defendant would have funds available to pay whatever fine is imposed for the code violations.

Before its condemnation, the McLure House operated as a hotel in the heart of downtown since before the Civil War, opening its doors in 1852 and hosting at least 11 presidents of the United States and many other dignitaries over the decades.

Garey previously owned and operated the McLure Hotel from April 2007 until the summer of 2021, when Roxby Development acquired the property at auction with a bid of $6.245 million. Roxby painted the exterior facade of the building from tan to white and began several interior renovations before financial issues led to the company’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing and the subsequent conviction of company head Jeffrey James Morris on federal wire fraud and tax fraud charges.

Morris, 39, was later sentenced to five years in federal prison and ordered to pay $4.9 million in restitution to investors and $526,476 in taxes, penalties and interest to the Internal Revenue Service.

In 2023, the McLure property was transferred back to FA Management Corp. Inc. and FG Management LLC following a public foreclosure auction. Garey, the previous owner and head of the Missouri-based property management companies, provided the only bid for the McLure Hotel and related properties, securing the properties through a credit bid of $5.668 million during the trustee’s sale -- the amount the company claimed Roxby still owed.

At that time, Garey said she was focused on resolving problems at the hotel and was interested in financing the property for the right buyer. She also said she intended to more thoroughly vet potential buyers following the issues involving Roxby.

In recent decades, the McLure House was filled to capacity during Heritage Music BluesFest weekends in August, when music fans from across the country visited Wheeling for the three-day live music festival at Heritage Port. With the hotel closed, organizers of this year’s 25th BluesFest partnered with several area hotels outside downtown and provided shuttles for out-of-town guests.