Pharmaceutical manufacturing company BMK Pharma is coming soon to Allen.

Allen City Council unanimously approved a zoning change request that allows BMK Pharma to operate a manufacturing and research facility near the intersection of Central Expressway and Exchange Parkway at an Aug. 11 meeting.

The specifics: The Allen Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of this change at a July 21 meeting. The building was previously zoned for shopping center uses, per city documents.

“Though this is a shopping center zoning district, if you all are familiar with the building, it is built in a little bit more of an industrial style,” Community Development Director Hayley Angel said to council members.

The zoning change allows the building to be used for “research, design, development, production, storage and sales of pharmaceutical products,” city documents state.

Louis G. Jewelry is celebrating one year in business in Allen this August, founder Nabeel Louis Nasr said.

The details: The business is located within Watters Creek Village and offers custom jewelry design, engraving, personalization, cleaning, repair and restoration, per its website.

Quote of note: "What really sets us apart is how much of the jewelry-making process we are able to bring directly to our clients,” Nasr said, in an email. “We specialize in custom jewelry and work closely with our customers from the initial idea and stone selection through design, rendering and production.”

• 907 Watters Creek Blvd., Allen

Dallas Fort Worth International Airport officials are buying a hotel located at the airport, while Prosper officials postponed consideration of a proposed data center. Check out six trending stories from Community Impact’s Dallas-Fort Worth coverage areas.

1. Dallas Fort Worth International Airport buys hotel for $193 million
2. Prosper postpones consideration of possible data center
3. Frisco ISD approves e-scooter ban for student commutes
4. Frisco eyes 3.7% tax rate increase for fiscal year 2026-27
5. McKinney council approves SUP for QuikTrip gas station on US 380
6. McKinney officials propose $880M budget, increased tax rate for FY 2026-27

Ahead of the 2026-27 school year, public school leaders in Community Impact’s coverage areas shuttered at least nine individual schools to respond to repeated state accountability issues and stave off state intervention. A new Texas Education Agency rule may make it harder for districts to do so in the future.

The details: Beginning Aug. 16, if a district closes a D- or F-rated campus and transfers the largest share of students from the closed campus to a school with a C, D or F rating, the closed campus’ rating will be assigned to the new campus. 

Districts will only avoid transferring a shuttered school’s rating history if they relocate a plurality of students to an A- or B-rated campus.

Stay tuned: The TEA is scheduled to release A-F ratings for the 2025-26 school year on Aug. 14. If a school receives five failing ratings in a row, the TEA is required under state law to close that campus or replace the district’s board of trustees with a state-appointed board of managers.