Bar owner Vince Cantu turned down $4 million from the Alamo Trust for his property last week, the nonprofit’s highest offer to date, according to the Express-News.. Credit: Michael Karlis

The owner of Moses Rose’s Hideout, the downtown bar at the center of a high-profile eminent domain case, has launched a GoFundMe as he prepares for a potential courtroom battle to keep the property.

Vince Cantu, the owner of the business sitting in the footprint of the proposed $150 million Alamo Visitor Center and Museum, wrote online that that fundraiser will help him stand up to city hall and get a fair price for his business. Although the account is currently inactive, Cantu said he’ll take it live if sales talks for the bar fail.

“This fundraiser is one way to join me in my mission to force them to pay me fairly for walking away from this valuable, generational property,” Cantu wrote. “Any donation will allow me to continue to fight big government on the same battlefield Texas fought for freedom 200 years ago.”

The Express-News reported Friday that Cantu turned down $4 million from the Alamo Trust, the nonprofit’s highest offer to date. San Antonio City Attorney Andy Segovia told the daily that the parties will continue negotiations even though talks have so far proved fruitless.

San Antonio City Council voted 9-2 on Jan. 26 to invoke eminent domain, a step intended to force the sale of Moses Rose’s to make way for the proposed museum.

Although an independent appraisal valued the property at $2.8 million, Cantu has said that his family’s business is worth at least $8 million. He’s previously asked for as much as $17 million, according to news reports.

“If you have a buck or two to donate towards the legal fees that are mounting up, send it my way,” Cantu posted on his GoFundMe page.

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This article appears in Feb 22 – Mar 7, 2023.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...