BEAUMONT, Texas — Demolition has begun on the former AT&T building in downtown Beaumont making way for potential development of a new riverfront project.
The Beaumont City Council awarded the $756,786 demolition contract to Houston's Grant Mackay Company in November 2023 from four bids that were submitted.
The company has 125 days finish the demolition process according to file stories.
City council previously said the demolition won’t hinder the opening of riverfront park.
Heavy machinery will be used to take the building down, which could prompt the closure of Main St. and some side streets.
In October 2023 the city released renderings detailing plans for redeveloping much of downtown including the riverfront and the site of the former AT&T building.
Beaumont City Manager Kenneth Williams previously told 12News that the demolition of the building will fit into the city's plans for riverfront development.
The saga of the building, just north of the Beaumont Civic Center near the banks of the Neches River, has gone on for about five years.
“We had the idea to try to develop a plaza,” Assistant City Manager Chris Boone previously said.
In February 2019 the city tried to buy the building in an auction but lost to developer Tom Flanagan who won the auction and paid $2 million for the property.
The city, in July 2021, released plans for riverfront development including buying the building from Flanagan and demolishing it to make way for the project.
The city then paid Flanagan $2.8 million for the property and the council approved demolishing the building and moving forward with development plans according to file stories.
Less than a year later the council put a hold on those plans after the city received interest from a potential buyer for the building.
In May 2022 the city council put a hold on tearing down the structure about a month after voting to finally demolish it.
A North Texas investor proposed to buy the building and turn it into luxury apartments, with a public gym and rooftop bar but those plans never came to fruition and he didn't buy it.
“My goal is to have retails at the bottom, an indoor swimming pool, with fitness at the basement and apartments on top,” Selim Kirlap, a potential developer for the AT&T Building, previously told 12News.
In March 2023 the city rejected the only bid it received for the building calling it a "way lowball offer." That bid was for $827,000.
“We're going to have that whole fresh piece of land there which is where we're proposing our convention center hotel," said Mayor Roy West.
With the old building gone the city can truly capitalize on its best feature, the Neches River.
“We haven't embraced it like we should, and certainly water is something that attracts people. Progress in Beaumont Texas is all I have to say,” said West.
Part of the original purchase contract between the city and Flanagan gives him the right to buy the building back for the same price the city paid if they don't demolish it Councilman Mike Getz previously told 12News.
The AT&T Building should be gone in about a week.