A property sale between longtime friends in San Antonio has developed into a protracted legal dispute, with attorney Martin Phipps and his rooftop cocktail bar, Paramour, agreeing to surrender their spaces in a River Walk building. In late 2022, Phipps’ company, Emet LLC, agreed to sell the property at 102 Ninth St. to CDC Enterprises LP for $11 million. The deal later unravelled over a disputed $2.75 million arrangement involving the purchase price and prepaid rent, alongside allegations of unpaid rent. In late October 2025, a jury found that Phipps and his companies had committed fraud against CDC and awarded the company more than $1.2 million in damages and attorneys’ fees. The dispute continued through eviction proceedings and repeated lockouts. On October 9, 2026, the parties signed agreements requiring Phipps’ law firm and Paramour to surrender their spaces, with a limited period to remove their belongings. The agreements resolve the immediate eviction proceedings but do not establish that every financial or contractual dispute arising from the sale has been settled.
How the $11 million San Antonio property sale became a legal dispute
In late 2022, Phipps’ company, Emet LLC, agreed to sell the building at 102 Ninth St. to CDC Enterprises, a company associated with Daren Connel, a longtime friend of Phipps. The purchase price was $11 million. According to the San Antonio Express-News, CDC financed $8.25 million of the $11 million transaction, while the remaining $2.75 million was treated as a debt in place of a cash down payment. Phipps maintained that the amount was to be credited as prepaid rent for his law firm and Paramour. CDC disputed that interpretation.Phipps maintained that the parties had agreed to treat the $2.75 million as prepaid rent credit for his law firm and Paramour. CDC disputed that interpretation, and the disagreement became central to the litigation. The building, constructed by Phipps in 2014, houses his law firm and Paramour, a rooftop cocktail bar operated by Holy Spirits LLC. The building, commonly known as the Phipps Building, has since been referred to as Paradigm, the name shown on a leasing sign described in later reporting. CDC’s ownership was upheld in the trial court, while Emet retained a contractual right to buy back the building until late 2027, subject to the terms of the agreement. The dispute illustrates how a property sale can become complicated when financing arrangements, rent credits and commercial leases are linked. The parties’ disagreement over the $2.75 million arrangement became part of a wider conflict involving ownership, unpaid rent and possession of the premises.
Paramour eviction dispute: unpaid rent claims and repeated lockouts
The disagreement extended beyond the sale contract into disputes over rent and possession of the building. In January 2024, CDC sued Holy Spirits LLC, which operates Paramour, seeking about $260,000 in alleged unpaid rent, fees and interest. CDC claimed the bar had failed to pay rent for several months. Phipps disputed the landlord’s position and argued that CDC owed money in connection with the property. These were competing claims made during the dispute, rather than findings that either party had established every allegation. In February 2024, a justice of the peace ruled in CDC’s favour in an eviction case against Holy Spirits. The company appealed the ruling later that month, moving the dispute into county court, according to the San Antonio Express-News.The conflict also led to repeated lockouts. In 2024, Phipps accused CDC of unlawfully locking out his law firm and Paramour. The dispute resurfaced in March 2026, when CDC again locked out the tenants, citing alleged unpaid rent and common-area maintenance charges. On March 18, 2026, a judge ruled that the March 2 lockout was unlawful because CDC had changed the locks without providing the required 14-day notice. The ruling did not prevent CDC from pursuing eviction through the legal process. In September 2026, CDC locked out Paramour and Phipps’ law firm for the third time since June 2024, according to the San Antonio Express-News. The landlord cited alleged unpaid rent. The lockout led to further eviction proceedings, with cases scheduled for trial on October 9. The parties signed agreements that day requiring the tenants to surrender their spaces, according to the San Antonio Express-News.
The $1.2 million jury verdict and the ruling on ownership
A major turning point came in late October 2025, when a jury ruled against Phipps and his companies in the dispute over the building. According to the San Antonio Express-News, the jury found against Phipps and his companies on CDC’s fraud claims and awarded CDC more than $1.2 million in damages and attorneys’ fees. The jury awarded Phipps’ companies nothing on their own claims. Phipps, Emet LLC, Holy Spirits LLC, his law firm and his property management firm had countersued CDC on 16 claims, including a claim seeking to have the sale contract declared void and unenforceable because of alleged fraud. During the trial, Phipps’ lawyer asked jurors to award his clients more than $5 million for lost rental income, prepaid rent and building expenses. The jury did not award them damages.Before the jury returned its verdict, State District Judge Angelica Jimenez ruled in CDC’s favour on the ownership issue, according to the San Antonio Express-News. The ruling established that CDC’s title to the property was superior to any claim by Emet LLC. Bexar County property records identify CDC as the owner. Emet LLC retains a contractual option to buy back the building until late 2027, subject to the agreement’s terms, according to the San Antonio Express-News. The jury verdict did not immediately end the wider dispute. Proceedings over rent and possession continued, with the parties returning to court over the tenants’ right to remain in the building.
Martin Phipps and Paramour agree to surrender their spaces
The latest development came on October 9, 2026, when agreements were signed resolving the pending eviction cases. The agreements require Phipps’ law firm and Paramour to surrender possession of their spaces. The agreements allow them until October 30 to remove their belongings, according to the October 12 San Antonio Express-News report. The agreements were signed on the day the eviction cases were scheduled to go to trial. They resolve those eviction proceedings, but should not be treated as proof that every financial or contractual dispute arising from the building sale has been settled.Paramour has operated at the address since 2015 and is known for its rooftop setting, cocktails and drag brunches. In late July 2026, the bar announced that it was “considering pausing this version of Paramour while we plan the next evolution,” adding that it might be forced to move. The statement did not confirm a relocation or provide a reopening date. The announcement came amid the ongoing dispute with the building’s landlord. In September, CDC locked out Paramour and Phipps’ law firm for the third time since June 2024, according to the San Antonio Express-News.
