The Marco, a 143-acre proposed mixed-use development designed to mimic the feel of an Italian village on the northeast corner of Dallas North Tollway and US 380, is moving forward in Prosper.

In a nutshell: Conceptual plans for the development include a public square, retail, single-family and multifamily housing, a performing arts venue and a hotel, all centered around a lagoon with canals big enough to navigate by boat.

What happened: The Prosper Planning and Zoning Commission voted in favor of amending a previous planned development and rezoning the land from a commercial planned development to a mixed-use planned development at an Aug. 18 meeting. The commission recommended approval 4-2, with Chair Damon Jackson and Commissioner John Hamilton in opposition and Commissioner Brett Butler not in attendance.

Quote of note: “I know I’ll dominate the whole toll,” developer Jeffory Blackard said. “I’ll get the cream of the crop to come here because there’s nothing like this.”

The Home Depot is open on Preston Road in Celina.

The gist: The home improvement retailer offers a wide selection of tools, appliances, building materials, paint, gardening supplies and more, according to its website.

The local impact: “There’s a lot of growth in this area, and so we do believe that the pro part of our business will be huge at this store,” manager Rachel Sutton said.

In case you missed it: The Home Depot will receive a sales tax grant of up to $1.4 million over ten years split between the city and the Celina Economic Development Corporation. The city is expected to see a return on the investment in five years, according to previous reporting.

• 3245 S. Preston Road, Celina

The Texas House State Affairs Committee heard from power grid officials; data center developers and industry representatives; local government officials; cybersecurity experts; landowners and residents during an Aug. 19 hearing on the growth of data centers.

The details: Some Texans expressed concerns that data center development is happening too quickly and communities do not have enough say in that growth.

"The question is always going to be who pays for this infrastructure as we continue to grow," San Marcos City Council Member Amanda Rodriquez said.

Data center developers, meanwhile, emphasized that they wanted to be “teammates and partners” to residents of the communities they build in.

One more thing: Testimony on data centers was limited to six hours as the committee began discussing plans to build large high-voltage transmission lines from East to West Texas.

"I don't want anybody to think this is our last time that we're going to talk about data centers, or that you’re not going to get another opportunity to talk about data centers," committee chair Rep. Ken King, R-Canadian, said.