Hope Hotel gets more time for bankruptcy reorganization plan

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE — The Hope Hotel and Conference Center has been granted an extension of time for filing a plan detailing how it will get out of court-supervised bankruptcy reorganization, the hotel’s owner said.

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Dayton has granted an extension until early February of the period in which the hotel’s owner has the exclusive right to file a reorganization plan, said David Meyers, president of Visicon Inc., the hotel’s owner. Visicon expects to file the plan by the end of January, Meyers said Wednesday.

Under Chapter 11 reorganization, a business may operate under U.S. Bankruptcy Court protection from creditors while the company develops a plan to put its finances in order. Creditors have the opportunity to challenge the reorganization plan before the bankruptcy court rules on whether to accept it.

The privately owned hotel operates on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base under a 40-year lease with the Air Force that runs until 2028.

The hotel, named for entertainer Bob Hope, was where the late U.S. diplomat Richard C. Holbrooke negotiated the 1995 peace accords that ended the Bosnian war.

The hotel has continued normal business operations since entering reorganization in June after occupancy rates dropped in 2009.

Meyers contends that the Air Force hasn’t complied with a lease requirement stating that personnel coming to Wright-Patterson are automatically referred to the Hope Hotel after Wright-Patterson’s on-base lodgings are full. The Air Force has declined to comment, because of the court case.

Air Force personnel traveling from elsewhere can make reservations through the Defense Travel System rather than through Wright-Patterson’s reservation system, which doesn’t give the base lodging office an opportunity to refer those visitors to the Hope Hotel.

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

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