YOU MIGHT WANT TO CHECK WHETHER THAT LA MARQUE HOUSE YOU ARE BUYING IS SLATED FOR DEMOLITION 
A rep from Greenspoint Investors, which last September reportedly sold Whendy Carreon’s mother a house on the city of La Marque’s teardown list for about $25,000 in cash, tells Kaitlin McCulley that the company didn’t receive notification that the house was condemned until a month after the sale. Reps from the city, however, maintain that the company was notified before the transaction; city manager Carol Buttler says she’s heard of at least 2 other cases in which demo-doomed homes have been sold by other companies to buyers unaware of impending knock-down plans. The city has given Carreon’s family a year to try to get the structure, between SH 146 and Spencer Hwy., up to habitable standards; Joe Compian of Interfaith Gulf Coast, who’s been helping the family with that process, says would-be buyers in the area should check for any city holds on properties before paying in cash. [ABC13] Image of La Marque City Hall: Galveston County Clerk’s Office
Sign up for the Newsletter
La Marque
- 412 Main St. [HAR]
The company behind the Houston Premium Outlets way up off 290 near Fairfield in Cypress has announced plans to build a similar outlet mall on the opposite side of Houston. Simon Property Group, also the owner of the Houston Galleria and the Katy Mills Mall, plans on calling the new 100-store, 350,000-sq.-ft. complex the Galveston Premium Outlets, but it’ll be located well north of the island in Texas City, just south of the Holland Rd. exit off I-45 and north of the Walmart Supercenter, on the west side of the freeway. From the drawing the company is passing around, the place should look a whole lot like its Cypress cousin, logo-tattooed tower and all.
The site is a 55-acre chunk of the stalled and probably flopped Lago Mar, a 7,000-home development announced 6 years ago.
The Galveston County Daily News‘s Laura Elder reports there are rumors another outlet mall is coming to the area as well, a couple of exits north on a 20-acre lot north of Cross Colony Dr. and west of FM 646 in Dickinson — this one from another national mall developer: Tanger Outlet Centers.
What’s the deal with the malls already in the area?
Galveston County Sheriff’s deputies, La Marque and Texas City Police, and officials from the Texas DPS Narcotics unit gathered for a garden tour yesterday in the back building of the purported cabinet-making business of Gregory William Stanley, at the southeast corner of 5th St. and FM 519 in La Marque. Thanks to careful attention to air flow and insulation, Stanley had been able to keep law-enforcement officials off the scent of his 240-plant greenhouse for a while:
The pungent aroma of marijuana was evident only upon entering the metal building.
The building had an extra ridge vent to help push the marijuana smell through the roof, sheriff’s office Lt. Tommy Hansen said.
“It’s all insulated,†[Capt. Barry] Cook said. “Foam board on the walls, silver insulating materials on the ceiling, and ultraviolet lights to help these plants.â€
Oscillating fans still were blowing air through the rooms as authorities photographed the evidence.
“There’s a ventilation, heating and lighting system, and they’ve got fans moving the air to keep it cool and damp in here,†Cook said.
- 4 charged in marijuana raid [Galveston County Daily News]
Video: Galveston County Daily News