
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, July 24, 1990                   TAG: 9007240258
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B/2   EDITION: BEDFORD/FRANKLIN 
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY and DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

HOTEL BACKERS TOLD THEY MAY GET REFUNDS

Investors in a defunct Smith Mountain Lake hotel project heard Monday that they might get their money back because a sale of hotel property still is pending.

The atmosphere was cordial at the second creditors' meeting in the personal bankruptcy of David A. "Red" Dean, principal in the hotel project.

Much of the two-hour gathering was devoted to discussion of the Smith Mountain Lake Resort Hotel that was planned on 158 acres in Bedford County.

First National Bank of Rocky Mount has a first mortgage on the property for $680,000, and Sentry Federal Savings Bank of Norfolk has a second mortgage for $300,000.

A third claim on the property of $2.1 million involves 26 investors who have pinned their hopes on the sale of the property to Grand Virginia Properties Inc. Grand Virginia, a company owned by Linda Morran of Boones Mill, has had the property under contract since December.

Morran also has filed a lawsuit asking that the third lien on the property be disallowed because it was added after her contract was obtained. That suit still is pending, said Roy Creasy, bankruptcy trustee.

Most of the investors were represented at the informal hearing in Roanoke on Monday. Investor Dan Callahan said that if the investors' signatures agreeing to the sale are not obtained by Thursday, his attorney has asked the Bankruptcy Court to name a receiver to supervise the sale.

A foreclosure sale of the land had been planned last Friday by Sentry Federal, but was canceled at the last minute because the Morran contract still was considered active.

Morran had no comment on the issue.

Dean was involved in several lake-area projects with a variety of partners, including his nephew, Dwight Dean; Roanoke Realtor Jay Deyerle; and John Meteney, who lives at Smith Mountain Lake.

The projects included Beacon Light Marina Yacht Club Inc., which sold boat time shares; Smith Mountain Lake Fishing Villas Inc., which sold boat slips and villa time shares; Smith Mountain Lake Executive Park office building; and several lake subdivisions. The boat and villa projects are bankrupt.

by CNB