BEAUMONT, Texas — The fate of the downtown AT&T building could be decided by Beaumont City Council members Tuesday.
The council will vote on whether to tear down the facility or not.
The city lost the building in a 2019 online auction when Tom Flanagan bought it for more than $2 million. The auction for the building started Feb. 11, 2019, and ended Feb. 13, 2019.
In 2021, the city voted 6 - 1 to purchase the building located at 555 Main Street. Officials bought the building from Flanagan for $2.8 million.
Beaumont City Manager Kenneth Williams tells 12News this will fit into the city's plans for riverfront development.
The land could be turned into a reinvestment zone or be part of a possible hotel in downtown.
In March, the city rejected the only bid it received for the building calling it a "way lowball offer."
The rejected bid offered to buy it for $827,000.
"We felt like the bid was unresponsive in terms of what we asked for in terms of the RPF, in terms of background budget timeline, things like that," Assistant Beaumont City Manager Chris Boone previously told 12News.
On July 16, 2021, the city released images from their plans for possible uses of the space where the AT&T building sits. In early April of 2022, Beaumont City Council members agreed to demolish the building and move forward with their riverfront development plans.
A last-minute interest from an outside investor in early May of 2022 made the council reevaluate its original plans to demolish the building. Beaumont City Councilman Mike Getz previously told 12News that a private investor had expressed interest in buying the building.
A north Texas investor's last-minute pitch for the downtown building in June 2022 officially put demolition plans on hold. Surveyor Selim Kiralp submitted a written offer to the City of Beaumont to purchase the AT&T building for $3 million.
In July 2022, Beaumont City Council Members voted to adjust a clause that could have saved the building from demolition and pave the way for new developers to step in. The vote gave the city the green light to solicit bids from potential developers.
The city officially issued a proposals request for the purchase and redevelopment of the former AT&T building in October 2022.
Kiralp proposed buying the building and turning it into luxury apartments, with a public gym and rooftop bar.