BEAUMONT, Texas — Tom Flanagan, a developer who has purchased about 18 buildings in Beaumont, is pushing back after last Thursday's Gilbert Building fire.
"If you have a house and someone pries your door open, and then they do it again, are you cited for that? Or if they break through your window, and you board it up or replace it, and they break it again, we have windows broken almost every day," said Flanagan.
Flanagan says he's not planning on selling any of the buildings. Instead, he wants to be part of the process to re-develop downtown.
"Do you really think we would buy a building, pay taxes, pay insurance and let it get repeatedly vandalized like it has to hold it hostage," said Flanagan.
Internal city documents obtained by 12News say two of Flanagan's buildings are an "imminent danger". That includes the Gilbert Building even before the fire.
"The city is blaming us for what they're not doing. If you believe that a loose screw is justification to blame the property owner for not stopping 150 homeless people from invading that happened dozens and dozens of time you go right ahead," said Flanagan.
Flanagan says he has renovated 14 of the buildings he owns.
He says he has even bigger plans for the four buildings that are still sitting vacant, including salvaging what's left of the Gilbert Building, and creating luxury apartments.
Flanagan says he supports the city's vision to revitalize.
Once the proposed waterway is built downtown, Flanagan says he plans to develop high-rise apartments in the Goodhue Building. The 12-story building, at 398 Pearl St, is just across the street from the Crockett Street Entertainment District.
"We have a chance to change our whole direction, and the way that people look at us, the way we look at ourselves, but we have to stop fighting," he said.
Flanagan says engineers were inspecting the Gilbert building Wednesday to see if it's structurally sound. He offered no timeline for renovating the other vacant buildings.
"We need a healthy environment here and it has to start with city leadership," he said. "If they can't control crime and they won't even provide police protection I don't think any of these buildings will be redeveloped."