Richardson plans to sell a vacant lot to nonprofit Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity, which will construct a new affordable home on the site. Riley Thomason, assistant to the city manager, presented plans for the city’s sale of the property, located at 604 Vernet St., to City Council on July 20.

The big picture: Richardson demolished the existing structure on the Northrich neighborhood site in August 2023 after over a decade of regular code enforcement action, Thomason said.

Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity identified an opportunity to develop a new home on the property as part of their work to improve access to stable and affordable housing for low-to-medium-income families. This goal aligns with findings from Richardson’s 2025 housing needs assessment, Thomason said, which identified a need for more reasonably priced for-sale housing units that can accommodate families with children and multi-generational families.

Frost Bank opened its Richardson Coit Financial Center on July 20, Bill Day, senior vice president of corporate communications, confirmed in an email.

The details: The financial center is Frost’s second location in Richardson and part of the bank’s ongoing expansion across the state.

Frost Richardson Coit Financial Center will offer full banking services to business and consumer customers, including a greeter station where bankers will assist customers with making deposits and withdrawals, opening accounts or applying for loans

• 1469 W. Campbell Road, Richardson

Construction will start on a new apartment complex in McKinney, and a new indoor playground is set to open in Plano. Check out six major North Texas construction permits filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.

1. Franklin Branch Apartments: A nine-building apartment complex called Franklin Branch Apartments will break ground in early March 2027, according to TDLR documents. Previous Community Impact reporting states that the apartment complex will offer 288 units. Developer The NRP Group partnered with the McKinney Housing Finance Corp. to build the complex to offer income-restricted rental units.

• Location: 3565 FM 1461, McKinney
• Estimated timeline: March 3 2027-Nov. 4 2028
• Estimated cost: $27.05 million

• Location: 3374 SH 114, Fort Worth
• Estimated timeline: Sept.1- May 7 2027
• Estimated cost: $2 million

Sandy Creek resident Georgia Bishop was out of town when 22 inches of rain fell on parts of northwest Travis County over the July 4, 2025, weekend. When Bishop returned home days later, her community was significantly changed.

What happened: Residents of the hard-hit Sandy Creek neighborhood described a “wall of water” that tore through their community last July, washing away homes, cars and roads. Nine people died in the flooding, including Bishop’s best friend, 16-year-old Felicity Jarmon.

The context: One year later, residents of the unincorporated Travis County community are still working to rebuild from last July’s catastrophic flooding. Central Texas has seen two straight years of intense, deadly flooding in July, leaving some residents on edge as they recover from last year’s disaster and mourn lost loved ones.

Community Impact spoke with Bishop and Kylie Nidever, whose neighborhood in Hunt flooded last year, on July 13, days before heavy rainfall hit large swaths of the state once again. Officials confirmed two deaths due to this year's floods, while 137 people died last July.