IKEA will close its location in the Domain on Aug. 30, according to a representative from the brand. The store focused on planning for larger home projects with a pick up format, the brand detailed. 

Learn more: The decision to close comes just two years after the store’s initial opening, according to previous Community Impact reporting. The Domain location was part of the company’s four-store expansion, featuring the unique format where customers could meet with an IKEA expert to plan, order and pick up home furnishings. 

Brand leaders moved to shutter the location following the evolution of customer needs and behaviors, according to a representative. Moving forward, IKEA will focus investments on other aspects of the consumer experience, such as home delivery, pick up services and digital capabilities.

One more thing: IKEA is directing customers to surrounding locations in Round Rock, Houston and surrounding areas, including IKEA Round Rock, IKEA in Best Buy South Austin, IKEA Houston and IKEA San Marcos. 

• 3306 Esperanza Crossing, Austin

A $30 million renovation to the Cedar Ridge High School campus in Round Rock is set to start next summer, a new project filing shows.

What you need to know: Project information was filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation on July 1, providing details about the campus expansion project. It will be funded by monies approved in the 2024 bond election.

What's next? The filing shows work on the expansion could begin in May 2027 and conclude in November 2028. 

City crews conducted hundreds of site visits, cleared hundreds of thousands of pounds of debris and moved dozens of people into shelter over the first month of Austin's ramped-up homeless encampment management.

The details: Earlier in the spring, Austin Homeless Strategies and Operations announced an expanded model for addressing the scores of known encampments in public places around the city. The renewed response came years after local voters reinstated a public camping ban, and followed shorter-term targeted encampment clearings by both the city and state agencies last year.

From May 11 to June 5, AHSO-led teams conducted 456 total visits to 127 unique locations citywide, where more than 334 tons of debris were cleared. Half of the people contacted at encampments accepted offers of assistance—either shelter or other services—while half declined any help. As part of ongoing monitoring, AHSO found people are frequently reoccupying sites after they're cleared, with signs of return activity at 28% of those locations.

A YMCA renovation, road reconstruction and a Crunch Fitness are among the five most expensive projects filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation in the Austin metro this week.

1. Johnny Morris Road ($32.7 million): This project involves roadway reconstruction with improvements to curbs, sidewalks, shared-use paths, signal modifications, and signage and pavement markings.

2. Texas Children's Hospital Austin ($17.9 million): This project includes a shell infill on the existing 5th floor of the hospital to house 12 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, or NICU, beds and 12 Universal Care Pediatric Beds.

3. YMCA Four Points ($17 million): This project involves the single-story renovation of the existing YMCA facility and a new outdoor space with a pool house.

4. Blue Hole Nature Center ($4 million): A new 2,375-square-foot nature center is being built in Wimberley.

5. Crunch Fitness ($1.5 million): A new Crunch Fitness location is coming to Hutto, with construction set to begin this fall.

Former state Sen. Don Huffines was appointed as the Texas comptroller of public accounts, Gov. Greg Abbott announced July 2.

Huffines, a Dallas-area native with a bachelor's degree in business administration in finance from The University of Texas at Austin, will take over as the state's finance and budgeting officer from acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock. Huffines will officially begin his service Aug. 1.

Huffines defeated Hancock, who became acting comptroller one year ago, in the March Republican primary. He'll now face former state Sen. Sarah Eckhardt in the November general election for a four-year term.