THEAVTORNEY GENERAL
OF ?rExAti
'WILL WILSON
A-l-X-O- GENERAL
April 23, 1959
Mr. William A. Harrison Opinion No. WW-602
Commis5ioner of Insurance
International Life Building Re: What constitutes Uoae building
Austin, Texas site and office building” as used
in particle 3.40 of the h~surance
Dear Sir: Code.
You have asked the opinion of this office as to the definition of
the phrase “one building site and office building for its accommodation
in the transaction of its business and for lease and rental” as used in
Article 3.40 of the,Insurance Code as well as its application to a spe-
cific fact situation set ,out in your opinion request a6 follows:
“Attached hereto you will find a photostatic
copy of a plat of a certain city block. The entire city.
block, is now owned ,by XYZ Life Insurance Company.
On tract ‘A’ is a twenty-story steel frame brick build-
ing which is the home office building of XYZ Life In-
‘,:,
surance Company. The company acauired tract ‘A’ on
December 27; 1950, at a cost of’$575,000. The build-
ing~was commenced in January, 1952, and was com-
pleted in February, 1953. At the present time the up-
peer nine stories of the building are under a thirty year
lease to one tenant, and the remaining eleven stories
are occupied by the insurance company and tenants
who have short-term leases. The insurance company
occupies space on seven floors, which if consolidated
would take up only a little more than three floors in
the building.
“Tract ‘B”is an ,unimproved concrete and dirt
lot, an undivided one-half of which is gowned by Com-
pany XYZ and is used for access and parking area.
One-half interest in this property was acquired by the
company on February 13, 1953 for a cash considera-
tion of $125,000.
“On tract ‘C’ is a si%-story concrete parking
garage building which is owned by XYZ Life Insur-
ance Company. The tract of land was acquired by the
company on December 27, 1950, for a $230,000 cash
payment. Then parking garage was commenced in Janu-
ary, 1952 and completed in February, 1953. The garage
‘.
Mr,. William A. Harrison, page 2 (WW-602) .:
is a public parking facility and the’ income from,,+ op-
eration accrues ,to the insurance’compauy.
“Tract ‘D’ wa,a acquired in two parcels, the ,first
J ‘. being on April 1, 1957, for $243,000, and the second par-
‘. ccl on April 1, 1958, for $77,5,000.
“Therefore, Company XYZ, since the purchase of
,” one’ori,ginal building sits or.December 27, 1950; a& the ,’
completion of the home