San Antonio sues to buy downtown bar 

The City of San Antonio has sued to buy a downtown bar owner’s property via eminent domain following years of failed negotiations.

The bar, owned by Vince Cantu, is Moses Rose’s Hideout at 516 East Houston Street. The Alamo Trust, a nonprofit that oversees the Alamo, wants to acquire the property for the planned Alamo Visitor Center and Museum, the San Antonio Report reported. 

It’s a rare high-profile example of eminent domain, a tactic most commonly engaged by local governments to quietly acquire unused farmland, the San Antonio Business Journal reported.

Cantu valued his property at nearly $17 million in March 2020, roughly five years after purchasing the site. The Alamo Trust’s initial offer was just over $2 million, and the two sides have continued to squabble since then. In January, city council approved an ordinance that allows for the seizure of the site.

The city upped the offer to $4 million in March, and Cantu countered with an asking price of $6 million, plus $4 million for the loss of his business. To help settle an agreement, both sides consented to an independent business appraisal, resulting in a $1.2 million evaluation. 

The Alamo Trust made a final offer of $5.26 million in April. Cantu rejected it, however, saying the business appraisal was flawed and didn’t take projected future earnings into account.

“I can’t tell you how disappointed I am with the Alamo Trust, for not only not honoring our agreement, to value my company using the metric we all agreed on,” Cantu told the outlet.

Cantu has accused a member of the Alamo Trust of coercing the appraiser, RSI, not to include the bar’s projected future earnings in the evaluation, the San Antonio Current reported. Cantu’s attorney Dan Eldredge has sued over this matter. RSI denied the allegations.

—Quinn Donoghue