The owner of the Gilbert building speaks after the fire

BEAUMONT, Texas — Tom Flannigan, a developer who has purchased about 18 buildings in Beaumont, is holding on after last Thursday's Gilbert Building fire.

“If you have a house and someone breaks into your door and they do it again, are you cited for that? Or if they break your window, you board it up or replace it, and they break it “New, we have broken windows almost every day,” Flannigan said.

Flanagan says he has no plans to sell any of the buildings. Instead, he wants to participate in the downtown redevelopment process.

“Do you really think we would buy a building, pay taxes, pay insurance and let it be vandalized repeatedly as if to hold it hostage,” Flannigan said.

Internal city documents obtained by 12News indicate that two of Flannigan's buildings pose an “immanent hazard.” This includes the Gilbert Building, even before the fire.

“The city is blaming us for what they're not doing. If you think a loose screw is justification for blaming the landlord for failing to stop 150 homeless people from invading, which happened dozens and dozens of times, go for it,” Flannigan said.

Flannigan says he has renovated 14 of the buildings he owns.

“We built the beautiful Fountain Court. We built the gymnasium for the professionals. We built beautiful offices,” Flannigan said.

He says he has even more ambitious plans for the four still-vacant buildings, including salvaging what's left of the Gilbert Building and creating luxury apartments.

Flannigan says he supports the city's revitalization vision.

The Goodhue Building, when the waterway was constructed, is one of the first high-rise apartments. We have a chance to change our entire direction, and the way people look at us, the way we look at ourselves, but we have to stop fighting,” Flannigan said.

Flannigan said engineers were inspecting the Gilbert building today to see if its structure is sound. He offered no timetable for renovating the other vacant buildings.