SAN ANTONIO – The holdout owner of a bar in the way of a new Alamo museum said he has no plans to simply let the city and its partners come and take it.
Moses Rose’s Hideout, located at 516 E. Houston Street, sits a musket shot away from the Alamo and at the edge of the footprint of a proposed Alamo Visitors Center and Museum -- a key part of the $400 million plan to redesign Alamo Plaza.
Owner Vince Cantu said he is open to selling the property, but he wants the right price.
Although he is already facing the threat of a forced sale through eminent domain, Cantu and his attorney, Dan Eldredge, think he stands a fair chance of fighting it off in court.
“Basically, we’re negotiating with a terrorist...using - illegally - this eminent domain threat,” Cantu told KSAT on Wednesday.
Cantu faces a three-way partnership between the City of San Antonio, the Texas General Land Office, and the Alamo Trust, which are all working together on the Alamo Master Plan.
The Alamo Trust said Cantu rejected multiple offers worth up to $3.5 million for his property, which was appraised at $2.1 million currently and $2.8 million in 10 years.
In a 9-2 vote on Jan. 26, the San Antonio City Council approved using the city’s eminent domain power to acquire the property on the GLO’s behalf. The plan, though, was to try to negotiate a deal first.
Eldredge said the City of San Antonio, which he calls the “unlawful puppet” of the GLO, has since offered $4 million for the property. An additional valuation for the business is still in the works, but it seems unlikely to measure up to what Cantu wants.
Cantu had previously put his “happy price” to sell his bar as high as $17 million, which accounted for the business, the property, and an additional fee for having to live under the threat of eminent domain.
Now that he truly faces that threat, Cantu says he has given the state his “best and final” offer: $10 million for the property and business, another $500,000 for relocation, and other stipulations like a plaque to recognize the Mexican soldiers who died in the battle.
Cantu and Eldredge said the GLO has already rejected that deal.
Without the bar, the Alamo Trust Board of Directors has said the visitors center project would have to abandon a 4D theater, a recreation of the Woolworth Lunch Counter, and designs for the civil rights exhibit. It would also mean an estimated $1.7 million loss of revenue and long-term sustainability for the Alamo by 2029.
But that isn’t enough reason to force the sale of his bar, Cantu said.
“The law doesn’t show that, that you can eminent domain for economic development. You can’t eminent domain unless it’s a public use. And they want to build a theater, which is not a public use,” he said.
In an emailed statement provided by a city spokeswoman Wednesday, San Antonio City Attorney Andy Segovia said the city, GLO, and Alamo Trust were still in “substantive discussions with Mr. Cantu’s attorney to determine the value on this property.”
A GLO spokeswoman emailed the following statement from Texas Land Commissioner Dr. Dawn Buckingham:
“As a strong advocate for private property rights, I feel for anyone experiencing the threat of eminent domain. The Texas General Land Office has made every attempt to negotiate in good faith with Mr. Cantu to ensure he is fairly compensated while also preserving the Shrine of Texas Liberty for generations to come.
Mr. Cantu purchased his current property nearly a year after the plan to restore and expand the Alamo was well-known. Ironically, last year, Mr. Cantu protested his property value on the tax rolls— stating the property is worth roughly $500,000. Now that Texans’ tax dollars are at stake, he is demanding over 20 times that value. In addition to offering him eight times what he stated his property is worth, we have offered to build and move him into a property across the street – which he has declined.
A third-party appraiser has also been hired to assess if there might be value potentially added to the already generous proposal. As a steward of taxpayer dollars, I am working to ensure that Mr. Cantu and the Texas taxpayers are treated respectfully.”
Texas Land Commissioner Dr. Dawn Buckingham
Eldredge confirmed the offer to relocate Cantu, but described it as the GLO buying a building and then becoming Cantu’s landlord.