Several businesses are either now open, coming soon or have been in the news recently in the Pearland-Friendswood-Manvel area. Check out some of them here. This list is not comprehensive.

Now open
Skylar Sun Sports
The facility has five courts dedicated for indoor pickleball and badminton with an on-site pro-shop. It provides access through online court reservation, coaching, equipment rental and racket stringing service.

• 4102 Veterans Drive, Ste. D, Pearland

• 2000 Reflection Bay Drive, Ste. 118, Pearland

• 5115 Meridiana Parkway, Manvel

Barbecue has been a part of Joe Saladino Jr.’s life since he was a young boy. His great-grandfather passed down his love for barbecue to Saladino’s father, who opened Joe’s Barbeque in 1976.

The gist: The first storefront in Manvel had four tables, one barbecue pit and three employees. Saladino said the business relocated to Alvin in 1983 and currently has around 50 employees, serving approximately 80 briskets, 130 slabs of pork and beef ribs, 100 pounds of sausage, 80 half chickens and 10 hams every day. 

The backstory: Since his father’s passing in April 2023, Saladino said his focus has been on keeping everything the same. 

Quote of note: “This is all because of my dad, so we're just trying to carry his legacy and continue to do things the way he did … quality food, quality customer service and relationships with our customers,” Saladino said.

📍 1400 E. Hwy. 6, Alvin

Across the state, most school districts and campuses maintained or improved Texas Education Agency A-F accountability scores between the 2023-24 to 2024-25 school years, and the Houston region is no exception. 

Within districts in Community Impact’s Greater Houston coverage area, Willis and Houston ISDs saw the largest increases across all categories that make up the overall score, per data released by the TEA on Aug. 15. 

The bigger picture: The data showed that since 2023-24, the number of schools that received an A rating across Greater Houston grew from 21.9% to 26.9%, while the number of campuses rated F shrank from 6.4% to 2.6%.  

Going forward: House Bill 8, which was sent to Gov. Greg Abbott on Sept. 4, would eliminate the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness test and replace it with three shorter tests taken at the beginning, middle and end of each school year.

The gist: Single-family home sales rose 11.9% compared to the same time last year in August, according to the Houston Association of Realtors’ August 2025 Housing Market Update released Sept. 10. The number of homes available was also reported to be 30.4% above last year’s number. While sales and available homes numbers were higher, home prices didn’t show as much change this August compared to last year. The median sales price remained almost unchanged at $335,000, according to the report.

What they’re saying: “August brought the strongest sales gains we’ve seen so far this year, and that’s encouraging for both sides of the market,” HAR Chair Shae Cottar said. “Buyers have more choices and negotiating power than they’ve had in more than a decade while sellers continue to benefit from solid demand. As mortgage rates continue to ease, I anticipate buyer activity will remain solid in the coming months.”