County uses eminent domain to purchase $7 million office tower

SAN ANTONIO – Bexar County Commissioners voted to spend $7 million of your tax dollars to buy a building for a new Precinct 2 satellite office.

The county used eminent domain to force the building’s owner to sell but it’s debatable whether taxpayers got a good deal.

The 55-thousand square foot office tower at Fredericksburg Rd. and Loop 410 will soon house Precinct 2’s Justice of the Peace Court, constable and tax assessor offices.

The county says it’s a steal, but it paid two million dollars more than it had budgeted for the purchase.

Eminent domain was used to buy the building after its owner turned down the county’s initial offer.

Last month three special commissioners appointed by a judge ruled the county should pay just over $7 million.

The Bexar Appraisal District assessed the building’s value as being significantly lower than that, at $3.9 million.

“Why are we paying $7 million for a building that was valued by the appraisal district at $3.9 million?” asked Jaie Avila of the News 4 I-Team.

“Appraisal district values are different than commercial real estate values,” said Bexar County’s Facilities Management Director Dan Curry.

According to Curry, the county had its own appraisal done which valued the tower at $6 million and the building’s owner appraised it at $8 million.

“Both parties provided appraisals, and from what I understand from the hearing, they split the difference between the two appraisals,” Curry said.

Tuesday county commissioners approved a more than $2 million budget increase for the purchase, while referring to the eminent domain as a friendly condemnation.

“It sounds like somewhat of a friendly condemnation,” said Precinct 2 Commissioner Justin Rodriguez.

“Without a doubt it’s been cooperative,” responded Curry.

The building’s owner characterized it differently.

The attorney for Hanover Partnership Investment of Greenwich, Connecticut said in an email: “This was not a “friendly condemnation.” The county exercised its eminent domain authority to take the property, and our client had no choice but to defend the value of what was being taken.”

The county says the building is much cheaper than constructing a new Precinct 2 facility and that it will ultimately be more cost efficient than continuing to lease space for those offices at their current Gilbeau Rd. location.

Groups that oppose the use of eminent domain say, in this case, it may have backfired on Bexar County.

“If I’m the property owner myself, in this specific case, I’m thrilled as all can be, however at the same time when you step back for a second, the taxpayers the one who’s on the hook for that increased value,” said Judge Shepard of the Texas Public Policy Foundation.

The building will have to undergo extensive renovation, and the county says that likely won’t begin until early next year.