A Subtle Exit for Suttle... Speculation Abounds.

Statesman: Austin lawyer backs off from Wal-Mart wars

Friday, May 25, 2007

After seven years at the barricades for Wal-Mart, Austin lawyer Richard Suttle has signed off as the company's development lawyer and lobbyist.

Suttle has been Wal-Mart's point man in the development wars as it substantially expanded the number of SuperCenters in Austin, some of which spawned substantial controversy.

With the latest battle over a planned Wal-Mart at Northcross Mall almost behind him, it was time for a change, he said. The move was first reported in the InFact Daily newsletter.

Even without Wal-Mart, he won't lack for excitement.

He's representing developers who want to build a Marriott hotel complex on Congress Avenue that will displace the popular Las Manitas restaurant and another company that plans three residential towers on East Riverside Drive. That project has drawn a legal challenge from a citizens group that wants to curb development on Town Lake.

Local real estate consultants estimate that Wal-Mart easily has paid Suttle hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years.

Suttle is mum on that score, but chuckled and said: "There were times when I thought it wasn't nearly enough."