Negotiations between San Antonio officials and Moses Rose’s bar owner to begin Wednesday

Despite a bid to postpone negotiations, sales talks between city and state officials and the owner of Moses Rose’s Hideway, the downtown bar standing in the way of building the Alamo Visitor Center, will start Wednesday.

On Tuesday, members of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) held a press conference at City Hall, asking Mayor Ron Nirenberg and the Alamo Trust to push back eminent domain discussions with Moses Rose’s owner Vince Cantu.

However, the Alamo Trust — the organization in charge of the Alamo project — declined to postpone the talks, meaning Cantu and state and local officials will enter high-stakes discussions Wednesday. The city plans to begin eminent domain proceedings if the parties can’t reach a settlement, according to local officials.

In a statement to the Current, San Antonio City Attorney Andy Segovia called LULAC’s attempts to postpone negotiations unhelpful, adding that the organization doesn’t know all the facts and that the city is actively discussing options with Cantu.

Cantu’s business sits in the footprint of the $388 million Alamo Visitor Center and Museum, which is set to open sometime in 2026. The Alamo Trust last offered Cantu $3.5 million for his property so it can move forward on the project.

Even though the bar property’s last appraised value was only $2.8 million, Cantu has demanded a lofty $17 million — an amount city and state officials have dismissed as unrealistic.

However, LULAC officials and Cantu maintain city and state officials never made an earnest attempt to negotiate.

“Mr. Cantu is doing what every property owner has the right to do when someone comes along unsolicited and wants to buy their land and business,” LULAC said in an emailed statement. “Eminent domain in the Alamo’s shadow violates the principles this landmark represents.”

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This article appears in Feb 8-21, 2023.