Harris County Asks a Judge to Close Life at Jackson Square for a Year — or Hand It to a Receiver
The 1,300-unit Meyerland complex on North Braeswood has drawn more than 800 police calls for service, the county says, along with broken gates, sewage violations and fire-damaged buildings left unsecured. County Attorney Abbie Kamin wants it cleaned up — or taken over.
Harris County is asking a judge to order a one-year closure of the Life at Jackson Square apartments in Meyerland, or to appoint a receiver to take control of the southwest Houston property, alleging that its owners and operators have allowed criminal activity and dangerous conditions to persist, FOX 26 Houston reported. County Attorney Abbie Kamin announced Tuesday that her office is intervening on behalf of Harris County and the State of Texas in the City of Houston's existing lawsuit over the complex, at 5410 N. Braeswood Boulevard - more than 1,300 apartments across approximately 39 acres, a property that has also operated under the names Nob Hill and Meyerland on Braeswood.
The county's petition alleges the owners and operators failed to take reasonable steps against recurring crime and unsafe conditions: inoperable vehicle gates, unlocked pedestrian gates, inadequate exterior lighting and unsecured vacant apartments, plus municipal violations involving sewage, accumulated trash, ineffective pest control and hazardous exposed electrical wiring. At least three severely fire-damaged buildings remain unsecured, the county alleges. The petition lists 16 incidents involving firearms, aggravated assaults, robberies, arson and narcotics offenses between May 2023 and September 2026, and references a city filing documenting more than 800 police calls for service involving the complex - calls that, as FOX 26 noted, do not necessarily establish that a crime occurred. "So what are we asking for? We want this property cleaned up. It means real security, lighting, cameras and an end to the criminal activity," Kamin said. "If the owners cannot or will not do that, they need to make this right for the families that live there." The allegations are the county's request for court action, not findings by a judge.
Residents described the same decay from inside. Mary Perry told FOX 26 that bullet holes in her window had not been repaired and insects were entering through cracks; another resident, Larry, who has lived at the complex for about 15 years, said, "It just went bad, and then they stopped maintaining the property." Houston firefighters answered a two-alarm fire inside the complex as recently as October 20, at 5465 Braesvalley Drive - a vacant two-story building with no occupants, 118 personnel dispatched, one firefighter taken to a hospital with a non-life-threatening injury and later released. The petition itself does not close the property or direct anyone to leave, and Kamin acknowledged the stakes for the people who live there: "We don't want to see families displaced with nowhere to go, but that is also a very real concern and we have to grapple with that because it is not safe to be there." At a final hearing the county wants the court to order the complex closed for one year or, alternatively, appoint a receiver who could collect rent, make repairs and manage the property. No hearing date or signed order exists yet; Kamin said the litigation could take months, a year or longer.
