Local partners to serve as new stewards of RT Lodge

April 27, 2021

A local partnership of Knoxville-area hospitality owners now holds the majority ownership of the RT Lodge lease.

“Morningside Lodge, LLC,” whose principals include Beth McCabe Holman and David and Annie Haslam Colquitt, has assumed operations of the 7-acre property, which includes an 89-year-old home and two guest houses located in the Maryville College Woods, effective April 27, 2021.

“This is incredibly good news for the future of the RT Lodge, formerly Morningside, which is a vital part of Maryville College’s history,” stated Dr. Bryan F. Coker, Maryville College president, in a memo to the campus community today. “Beth McCabe Holman and the Colquitts understand and respect the small, historic, and local nature of this property and how it is beloved by both the College and wider communities.

“I have complete confidence in their abilities to effectively steward 89-year-old Morningside and the legacy of its original owner, Susan Wiley Walker, and we look forward to a wonderful relationship with them for many years to come,” Coker added.

RT Lodge operated as a corporate retreat venue by Ruby Tuesday (RTI) after the company entered into a 50-year lease agreement with the College in 1997. RTI renovated the original home, constructed two guest houses and restored the grounds. In more recent years, it has operated as a restaurant, hotel and special event site. When RTI filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2020, the lease was among the assets in dispute. Goldman Sachs, which held much of the RTI debt, sought the College’s approval for reassignment of the lease, but the College declined, citing preference for a business partner that would honor and preserve the small, local and historic nature of the property.

In March, the College announced the lease of RT Lodge would continue to be held by “Ruby Tuesday, Inc.,” a Goldman Sachs entity whose officers included representatives of the College, Goldman Sachs and RT Lodge General Manager Gary Doyle.

“After that [March] announcement, Ruby Tuesday, Inc. and the College continued negotiations with a group of local investors who showed interest in purchasing the lease following RTI’s bankruptcy declaration in October 2020,” Coker explained in his memo to the campus community. “These investors, who all have stellar records in the hospitality business, formed hospitality partnership ‘Morningside Lodge, LLC,’ and as of yesterday, now hold the majority ownership of the RT Lodge lease.”

“The staff of RT Lodge, including General Manager Gary Doyle and Chef Trevor Stockton, will remain in their roles, and the restaurant, lodge and event spaces will stay open throughout the transition,” Coker added. “Morningside Lodge LLC encourages the entire community to continue dining, dancing, and making memories at the Lodge.”

Principals hopeful for future

Holman is the founder and CEO of McCabe and Company, a luxury event company based in Alcoa, having previously worked at Blackberry Farm for nearly a decade. She will lead operations at RT Lodge, using her experience and vision to establish a sense of place at the Maryville College-owned property. The Colquitts are owners of The Swag, a luxury inn on 250 acres near Waynesville, N.C.

In a news release issued by the partnership, the principals described RT Lodge as “an East Tennessee treasure” and the lease a “long-term responsibility to [the] community to steward this property well so that it can thrive for another 50 years.”

“We’re grateful for this opportunity to extend the longevity of RT Lodge and thrilled that we can retain the current staff to help us do that,” Holman said. “We’re also grateful to Goldman Sachs and Maryville College for their partnership and thoughtful handling of this cherished property.”

Maryville College is a nationally-ranked institution of higher learning and one of America’s oldest colleges. For more than 200 years we’ve educated students to be giving citizens and gifted leaders, to study everything, so that they are prepared for anything — to address any problem, engage with any audience and launch successful careers right away. Located in Maryville, Tennessee, between the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the city of Knoxville, Maryville College offers nearly 1,200  students from around the world both the beauty of a rural setting and the advantages of an urban center, as well as more than 60 majors, seven pre-professional programs and career preparation from their first day on campus to their last. Today, our 10,000 alumni are living life strong of mind and brave of heart and are prepared, in the words of our Presbyterian founder, to “do good on the largest possible scale.”