A review of public records reveals the lawsuit was originally filed March 4, 2019 in Harris County Court at Law No. 4 and was moved into Federal court under a claim of inverse condemnation; the taking, damaging and / or destruction of property for public use without adequate compensation under the Texas Constitution.
According to public documents, Houston Community College and a second party named as a defendant in the suit consented to moving the issue into Federal court.
The underlying basis for the suit lies in a covenant attached to a deed pertaining to the subject property which is located at the northeast corner of Grand Parkway and the Katy Freeway,
Documents associated with the original cause filed in Harris County Court at Law 4 describe the existence of a deed recorded in Harris County, Texas in which Westside Ventures, LTD sold the property to Kickerillo Company Inc. in October 2007.
The deed included a covenant applicable to Kickerillo and its "successors and assigns" limiting development of the property to single-family residential homes.
In its filings, Houston Community College asserts the single-family use restriction does not apply to them or is not enforceable against them or any entity the property may be assigned to.
A pre-trial conference is scheduled for October 4, 2019 at 02:30 PM in Judge Hughes's Chambers in Downtown Houston.
The case is 4:19-cv-02928
Update: County Examiner received a statement from HCC Trustee Dave Wilson:
“Had the HCC administration made the Board aware of the covenant limiting development of the property to residential housing, hopefully the Board would have voted against purchasing the property in December of 2018. The original Board action barely passed with 5 of 9 members voting for.
The HCC Board should re-visit, yet another bad real estate deal, and resend this purchase. HCC has a long rich history of shady real estate deals.”
