Reagor building property sold at auction
The blue lines in the center indicate the old Reagor building property at 300 N. Water St. in Burnet that sold in an online tax auction on March 5 for $173,000. The property was sold to clear both a tax lien of around $48,000 and a city of Burnet lien for about $38,000. The Burnet lien was accrued when the city demolished the fire-damaged building in February. Burnet Central Appraisal District image
The saga of the old Reagor building at 300 N. Water St. in Burnet looks to be over. The fate of the 85-year-old granite structure, ravaged by a fire in December 2022, was argued in district court in December 2023 and by the Burnet City Council this past January before the building was demolished in February. The property sold in a tax auction on March 5.
Lot 2, Block 29 in the Peter Kerr portion of the city of Burnet sold for $173,000 to 4SP Holdings LLC. The agent for the company is listed with the Texas Comptroller’s Office as Alan Snider of Alan Snider Real Estate, 308 N. Water St. It was the highest price paid in an online auction of 13 properties. Most sold between $10,000 and $20,000. The lowest price was $2,900 for a 0.174-acre lot in the Reavis Ranch Estates Subdivision in Burnet County.
The auction money will be used to pay around $48,000 in back taxes on the property dating from 2020. It will also satisfy a lien placed by the city of Burnet for building demolition costs.
The city hired Maynard Construction Services to clear the building the week of Feb. 19. It then placed a lien on the property for $38,682 to pay for demolition and attorney fees incurred when Ken Reagor, one of seven listed owners, filed for a temporary restraining order in December 2023 to stop an earlier planned demolition.
Judge Evan Stubbs of the 424th Judicial District issued the restraining order, stopping a demolition set for Dec. 4, 2023. Both sides met in Judge Stubbs’ courtroom on Dec. 14 and agreed to take the issue to the City Council one more time. Reagor agreed to abide by whatever the council decided.
Several people, including Burnet County Historical Commission Chair Rachel Bryson, spoke to the council about the historical significance of the building, asking for more time to research its chances of being saved.
The council voted unanimously to issue an order declaring the building violated “minimum standards of the city’s Code of Ordinances …” and was not safe.
Property owners were given 30 days to remove the building, and when they did not, the city hired a contractor.
The home was built in 1936 by A.L. Warren using scrap or waste granite from Granite Mountain in Marble Falls. During the Depression era (1929-39), the quarry left piles of granite chunks by RR 1431 for anyone to claim. Many homes in Marble Falls, Burnet, and Bertram were built of the free stone, and several of those are still in use.