Hawthorn Extended Stay by Wyndham Richardson, a long-stay hotel, is on track to be converted into an apartment complex.

The overview: Richardson’s City Plan Commission unanimously recommended a rezoning Oct. 20 that would allow the hotel to be converted into Hudson Heights, a planned affordable apartment development.

A closer look: The 72 hotel suites, which already include full kitchens, balconies and storage areas, are planned to be transformed into 36 studio apartments and 36 one-bedroom apartments.

Developer Culby Culbertson said his goal with Hudson Heights is to provide a more affordable place to live for the Richardson workforce and attract new residents to the city.

Quote of note: “It makes all kinds of sense to push this [hotel] into something that we do need, which is more [apartment] units in our city, especially units that can appeal to the workforce,” Vice Chairman Jeremy Thomason

Jubran Roastery & Market is now open in Richardson. The Jordan-based roastery and grocery store offers a variety of food products, including nuts, dates, coffee and chocolates.

The details: Owner Eddie Tiraoui said the store offers fresh products and starts almost everything from scratch, including roasting coffee beans, making fresh peanut butter in-store, roasting nuts and seeds and grinding spices. The store offers 111 varieties of spices, Tiraoui said.

• 751 S. Sherman St., Richardson

More than 4.5 million Texans cast ballots in the first seven days of early voting in the Nov. 3 election, state data shows.

The overview: From Oct. 19-25, 23.8% of Texas' 19 million registered voters had voted in-person or by mail, according to voter turnout data submitted by counties and reported by the secretary of state. This is slightly below early voting turnout at the same point in 2018 and several percentage points above turnout in 2022.

Some context: Turnout this fall follows voter enthusiasm during the March primary election, when more Texans voted early than in recent primaries. In total, about 4.5 million people—or one-fourth of voters registered at the time—cast ballots in Texas' March election, setting a primary turnout record.

At the polls: Registered voters can visit any polling place in their county through Oct. 30, the last day of early voting. Election Day is Nov. 3. Texans can read Q&As with dozens of candidates, find local polling sites and print a custom sample ballot at communityimpact.com/voter-guide.