PLUM GROVE, Texas – In the piney woods and wetlands 35 miles north of Houston, one of the biggest housing developments in the country is now one of the most controversial.
Colony Ridge, a sprawl of homes, trailers and even tents is home to as many as 75,000 people in an area at least 50 percent bigger than Manhattan.
But next week it will be the subject of a special session of the Texas legislature, ordered by Gov. Greg Abbott, because of claims it is a “no-go area” for criminals, home to drug cartels, and a magnet for “illegal immigration.”
Texas’s 25 House Republicans, who’ve also called for an investigation, said it is “an optimal haven for illegal aliens amid a historic border crisis.”
The 40 square mile development on unincorporated land in Liberty County launched 15 years ago by billionaire developer brothers Trey and John Harris.
Its latest and largest subdivision, when complete, will be 30,000 lots.
Called both “Colony Ridge” in English and “Terrenos Houston” in Spanish, it is promoted in Spanish-language advertising as “the perfect solution for you to become the owner of your own land in the United States.”
“Stop paying that toxic rent!” one young woman says in one Spanish-language advertisement.
“Properties with water, electricity and drainage, easy financing with the owner-to-owner method, low down payment, and comfortable payments, it is very easy to apply, we do not check credit!”
Instead it offers owner financing to prospective buyers, meaning undocumented migrants can bypass the credit rating and proof of residency required for traditional bank loans.
But once they put down a small down payment, buyers have to pay credit card-style interest rates of up to 15 percent as well as hefty fees for water and sewage hookup.
Opponents accuse the Harris brothers of preying on people, especially migrants, by advertising a 1950s-style fantasy of suburban home ownership that in reality — they allege — is a vast shoddily-constructed, environmentally unsafe trailer park run on predatory loaning practices.
And local authorities say crime and drug overdoses in Colony Ridge have soared.
Opponents accuse the Harris brothers of preying on people, especially migrants, by advertising a 1950s-style fantasy of suburban home ownership that in reality — they allege — is a vast shoddily-constructed, environmentally unsafe trailer park run on predatory loaning practices.
The Harris brothers told The Post they vehemently disagree with all charges, and that the total population is 40,000, not 75,000 as critics claim.
When the Post toured Colony Ridge, we saw tents, trailers, ramshackle shanties and packs of dogs alongside some nicer homes and more well-kept lots.
Gang graffiti is visible in some places.
Residents in the poorest areas of Colony Ridge — which reportedly aren’t shown to prospective buyers touring the development — released their pitbulls from behind chain link fences when a reporter tried to speak to them.
Texas Department of Public Safety statistics say there were 12 murders in Liberty County 2022, and just one in 2011.
By comparison, the Census Bureau says the county’s population has gone from 75,643 in 2010 to an estimated 101, 992 in July 2022.
Both locals and law enforcement sources told The Post that they believe the Sinaloa and Gulf cartels bought property here early and have considerable influence.