Fear of Foreclosure for Future Concert Hall Near Galveston, Texas

The latest report indicates that progress on the former Gulf Greyhound Park, a dog racing track near the city of Galveston, is around 50%. According to the Galveston County Daily News, one of the most important news outlets in Galveston, Texas, a simple administrative error almost halted work on the new concert venue in the Houston area before it even began. This was because a Friendswood developer’s project to transform the former Gulf Greyhound Park in the neighboring city of La Marque was mistakenly included on a foreclosure list.

Laura Elder of the Daily News reported that Greene Group Inc., based in Alabama, mistakenly included the property on the Galveston County Courthouse list, causing much confusion due to a misunderstanding involving two different properties.

According to the Daily News, the story begins in March 2022, when developer Jerome Karam and his wife Leslie purchased the 88-acre property that includes the former dog racing track, after another Houston developer withdrew from acquiring the property. Jerome Karam aims, in his own words, to build a high-quality venue with a capacity for 12,000 people, which would be approximately double the size of the Smart Financial Center in Sugar Land. It would also rival major Houston venues like the Toyota Center and the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion.

To resolve the foreclosure confusion, Jerome Karam told the Daily News about the renovations and transformation of the former dog racing track into a future concert venue. He also announced that his family’s company, JMK5 Holdings, has signed a management agreement with Denver’s Oak View Group, which manages numerous venues across the country, including the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, the BOK Center in Tulsa, and the Moody Center in Austin.

JMK5 Holdings is a firm that owns more than 1 million square feet of commercial real estate in Galveston County. It owns significant properties such as Mainland City Centre, the League City campus of the College of the Mainland, the Texas Entertainment Xperience in Texas City, and the old Falstaff brewery in Galveston, as well as several shopping centers and storage facilities.

According to Chron, last year, JMK5 Holdings sold seven acres around the dog racing track to Main Street Commercial Partners, based in Houston, another firm that plans to develop fast-food franchises like Raising Cane’s and Chipotle on that land.

Available Foreclosures:

Galveston: 15 homes available.

La Marque: 8 homes available.

By Elías DaSilva | 06 de Noviembre de 2024.