Leander City Council voted 6-1 to approve a development plan for the Alexander Tract development Aug. 6, allowing 191 single-family homes to be built in two phases.

Although the 55-acre development received approval for its phasing plan, multiple council members expressed concerns about the condition of CR 267, which forms the western boundary of the development.

The plan: The development is slated to bring 117 residential lots across about 36 acres in its first phase, with the remaining 74 lots being built in a second phase on about 19 acres.

As part of the first phase, a roadway connection would connect Royal Palm Lane west toward CR 267, which city documents state would help circulation and traffic needed for the project.

Council members Natomi Blair, Michael Herrera and Andrew Naudin raised concerns about the state of CR 267, with Herrera calling the road “substandard.”

Going forward: City documents indicate that developers hope to break ground in March 2027 and begin home construction in January 2028.

An Ike’s Love & Sandwiches location is coming to the Northline development in Leander, according to a filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.

What’s on the menu: Ike’s is known for its wide variety of eccentrically named sandwiches that are served on Dutch crunch bread with the restaurant’s signature “dirty sauce.” It also offers vegetarian, vegan, halal and gluten-free options.

A closer look: A $400,000 renovation project to finish out the space for use as a sandwich shop is expected to begin in September and wrap up by December, the filing states.

Northline is a 116-acre mixed-use development located just north of Leander Station and Austin Community College’s San Gabriel Campus and south of St. David’s Medical Campus. Northline is set to include commercial and retail space, as well as Leander’s new city hall.

• 10209 183A Toll Frontage Road, Ste. 130, Leander

The interior renovation of IBC Bank in Austin, a Walmart renovation in Round Rock and a new 7 Brew in Leander are among the five most expensive projects filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation in the Austin metro this week.

1. IBC Bank Plaza interior renovations ($6 million): This project involves the partial interior finish-out of four levels in the building, including renovations of shared core spaces, elevator lobbies and common corridors on floors 6-13.

2. Pease Community Campus Phase 1 ($2.1 million): Pease Elementary School in downtown Austin is being transformed into the Pease Community Campus.

3. Walmart renovation ($1.3 million): This project includes an interior and exterior remodel of an existing Walmart in Round Rock.

4. Tim Hortons ($750,000): This project involves the renovation of an existing 3,107 square foot space to a Tim Hortons.

5. 7 Brew ($400,000): A new 7 Brew location is coming to Leander. The drive-thru coffee shop will be 510 square feet, with construction set to wrap up this fall.

Five-year-old Avry Jo Schapansky rang the bell at Dell Children's Blood and Cancer Center on Aug. 7, celebrating the end of her cancer treatment and marking her as the first patient in Central Texas to complete a stem cell transplant through the hospital's new program.

Why it matters: Before Dell Children's launched the program in August 2025, families needing this level of care had to travel outside Central Texas, often for a month or longer, to hospitals in Houston, Dallas or San Antonio.
Schapansky, diagnosed with high-risk Stage 4 neuroblastoma, underwent a roughly year-and-a-half treatment plan that included chemotherapy, surgery, tandem stem cell transplants and radiation.

Dr. Shannon Cohn, her pediatric oncologist, said the family's decision to stay reflected trust in a brand-new transplant team.

The program was made possible in part through a gift from the Shivers Cancer Foundation, which helped recruit Dr. Amir Mian to lead it, along with a partnership with nonprofit blood center We Are Blood. Dell Children's is now working toward offering CAR T-cell therapy and gene therapy in 2026.