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Meeting Scheduled On Funding Options For San Antonio’s Sutton Building

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GJ Sutton Building on San Antonio's Eastside

For years the G.J. Sutton building has housed hundreds of state employees.   The 100-year old building is a massive complex that is one of the first structures to greet visitors entering San Antonio’s Eastside community.   In the last few years the building has fallen into disrepair and a colony of bats have moved in.

A spokesman for State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer says the representative and Mayor Ivy Taylor will meet with members of the Legislative Budget Board, a group that develops policy and budget recommendations for the legislature. Taylor and Martinez Fischer want to explore the city’s options for either fighting Gov. Greg Abbott’s veto of $132 million slated for renovating the building.  They also want to talk about turning the building over to outside investors.  

Jackie Gorman is the executive director for the group San Antonio for Growth on the Eastside; she isn’t expecting the state to move very quickly on what becomes of the Sutton building.

“I totally, absolutely understand why the Governor’s veto it.  That was a huge amount of money.  Now what happens to the building, state law concerning the disposition of property is Byzantine at best, there is no sense of urgency,” said Gorman.

Gorman says if nothing is done to the vacant building it will remain in its dilapidated condition for at least the next two years.

And Gorman says renovating the property is not possible.

“First they had a foundation failure and walls began to move, they were shoring up the walls but something at the roofline broke and a bat colony was able to get into the attic space and moved in.  And so then you had moving walls that you have interior and exterior bracing on them and the air is becoming fowl,” Gorman explained.

Gorman says she gets an email about once every week from investors.  They want to know if they can bid on parts of the property.  It sits near an area where developers are building trending new businesses and housing next to downtown San Antonio.

Ryan started his radio career in 2002 working for Austin’s News Radio KLBJ-AM as a show producer for the station's organic gardening shows. This slowly evolved into a role as the morning show producer and later as the group’s executive producer.