Gold Sponsors

Silver Sponsors

A new $34 million inpatient rehabilitation facility is coming to the Spring area following a partnership between St. Luke’s Health and Lifepoint Rehabilitation. 

The big picture: The new facility is set to be the first freestanding inpatient rehabilitation center serving the Spring and Klein communities, providing speech, orthopedic and neurological therapies.

The facility will include 40 private rooms and provide care to patients recovering from conditions including stroke, neurological disease, and brain and spinal cord injuries. The center will also have multidisciplinary therapy gymnasiums and outdoor courtyards to encourage activity.

Why it matters: Officials with both facilities said the Springwoods Village campus was selected due to the location near major highways and in an area that has experienced continued population growth over the last several years. There are 13 inpatient rehab facilities across the Greater Houston area, four of which are located in the northern portion of the city, and all are housed within existing hospitals.

Harris County officials are urging caution as the National Weather Service has forecasted multiple days of heavy rainfall across the Greater Houston area.

What you need to know: Officials with the National Weather Service are maintaining a flood watch over a large swath of southeast Texas through June 18. The watch stems from a semi-stationary front moving across the region alongside a disturbance in the Gulf with a 60% chance of developing into a tropical storm before bringing additional rainfall to the region, NWS officials said. 

What’s being done? Gov. Greg Abbott signed a disaster declaration for 101 counties in southeast Texas, including Brazoria, Harris, Montgomery, Fort Bend and Galveston counties June 15. Harris County and the city of Houston have also activated emergency response initiatives, such as lowering Lake Houston levels ahead of additional rainfall.

Before you go: State and county officials are asking residents to remain aware of weather changes through the end of the week due to forecasted heavy rain and flash flooding.

Landry’s Seafood House is now serving passengers near Gate 41 in William P. Hobby Airport, Houston Airport officials announced in a June 9 news release.

On the menu: The restaurant—which has both sit-down and bar seating—serves a variety of seafood options as well as steaks, sandwiches, salads, pasta and breakfast options, per the release. Guests can also enjoy a full bar with beer and cocktails.

Also of note: The new restaurant opening comes as the Houston area hosts the FIFA World Cup with an expected 4.5 million visitors across both Houston airports over the course of the tournament, Community Impact reported.

“Houston Airports is focused on creating a passenger experience that feels efficient, welcoming and distinctly Houston,” said Jim Szczesniak, director of aviation for Houston Airports. “Landry’s Seafood House gives Hobby Airport travelers a full-service dining option and a recognizable local connection as we prepare to welcome soccer fans from around the world.”

The Transportation Advocacy Group of the Houston Region, or TAG Houston, held a webinar on the future of advanced air mobility June 3.

What’s happening: Sergio Roman, Texas Department of Transportation's director of emerging aviation technology under the aviation division, led a “pragmatic discussion” on the future of advanced air mobility. This includes unmanned drones and electric vertical takeoff and landing—or eVTOL—aircraft, to transport people and materials.

“We've all seen all the marketing sketches and autonomous passengers, drones zipping over gridlocked highways and completely untethered from the realities of public policy, physical concrete or power grids,” Roman said.

Explained: In March, the Federal Aviation Administration bestowed TxDOT with Project Nexus under the integration pilot program, or eIPP.

While Project Nexus encompasses Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and the Choctaw Nation, Roman said Houston will make its role vital in this undertaking as an immense industrial coastal corridor.

On the horizon: “In a perfect world,” Roman believes Phase 3 would begin in August or September of 2028.