Owners sue city over future of Whitt Printing Co. building
The owners of the Whitt Printing Co. building in west downtown are suing the city over the historic structure’s fate.
“We refuse to shoulder the cost of preservation of a building for public purposes at our expense,” attorney Peter Stanton, who represents the Lim family, said during a press conference Tuesday outside City Hall. “All we’re asking the city to do is, if they want to own and operate our property for the benefit of the public, that they pay for it.”
The Lim family wants more than $1 million in damages and seeks a court ruling preventing the city from imposing fines in excess of $2,000 a day over the state of the property.
In addition, the family wants a section of the city’s development code, which requires them to repair the building, declared invalid and unenforceable.
“We’re not against preservation,
but we need viable options and flexibility with the property that we actually own ourselves,” Bo Lim said. “Working with the city on this has gotten us nowhere. We are stuck in limbo. I ask, how would you feel if you couldn’t keep your property and the people you care about safe?”
In a statement, city attorney Andy Segovia said the historicdesignation process is aimed at protecting important buildings.
“Maintaining the public’s safety, as well as protecting the historic fabric of our community, are both priorities for the city of San Antonio,” he said. “The city has been in communication with both the Lim family and their attorneys on trying to preserve the historical significance and practically deal with the structural integrity.”
“We are hopeful that an appropriate plan can be worked out in lieu of prolonged litigation,” Segovia added.
The lawsuit is the latest twist in an ongoing dispute over the circa-1930 building at Frio, Commerce and Houston streets pitting the Lim family against city officials and preservation advocates.
In June, a city panel approved plans to demolish parts of the building and preserve other components.
But the Lims say that work came to a halt with the collapse of a beam that was supposed to be retained.
The family accuses the city of taking, damaging and destroying their property without just compensation in the lawsuit, which
was filed Monday in state district court by Yuen King Lim Family LLC.
The Lim family immigrated from China and have operated a restaurant in San Antonio since 1932. They opened the Golden Star Cafe next to the Whitt building in 1983 and later bought the adjacent property, according to the lawsuit.
The building was “designated as historical interest” in 1985 and is within the Cattleman Square Historic District.
The family used it for storage. An engineering firm it hired in 2017 to evaluate the structure said it presented “a dangerous situation” because of its poor condition and warned the framing could fall, a safety hazard for people standing or walking nearby, according to a letter provided by the Lim family.
The roof was further damaged during the February winter storm and the family was told they could lose their insurance, according to a letter Stanton sent to the city.
They said they cannot afford to renovate it and applied to remove the building’s historic designation and demolish it.
Prospective buyers also had been unwilling to purchase the property without knowing what they could do with the Whitt Building, attorney Patrick Christensen, who represented the family during Historic and Design Review Commission proceedings, told the panel in May.
But city staff recommended the panel deny the requests on grounds that the owners had neither provided evidence the building no longer meets the criteria for landmark designation nor shown the building could not be adapted or sold, which would mean it posed an unreasonable economic hardship.
Commissioners and representatives from West Side organizations said they were concerned about allowing more historic buildings in the area to be razed, as well as the lack of a plan for the property’s redevelopment and incorporating the building. The HDRC rejected the proposal.
In an unusual move, the family then sought approval from the Zoning Commission to remove the building’s historic designation in June.
But the city received an anonymous call about the building’s deteriorating condition, prompting staff to launch an “emergency
demolition by neglect” process because of public safety concerns, Michael Shannon, director of the Development Services Department, told the HDRC.
At an emergency hearing in June, a slew of local organizations — including the Esperanza Peace & Justice Center, LULAC, Historic Westside Residents Association and Tier One Neighborhood Coalition — said the building’s history is important and alternatives to razing it should be examined.
The HDRC voted then to support the city’s recommendations for keeping the building’s concrete frame and facade and removing the roof and infill in the walls.
But after a beam collapsed, that work stopped.
Politician, publisher and author Gilberto Whitt started a printing business in the building after fleeing to San Antonio during the Mexican Revolution.
He printed Spanish-language publications, and at the time, San Antonio had more Spanish publishing houses than any other city in the U.S., according to city staff. The company remained in operation until the late 1970s.