The city of Sugar Land will move forward with Char House preservation efforts following the city’s acquisition of the 40-acre district earlier in June.

The action taken: At a Nov. 18 meeting, Sugar Land City Council unanimously approved a $496,000 agreement with Houston-based Urbano Architects to begin design on preservation of the Char House’s exterior, including roof, window and structural repairs to halt further deterioration.

In their own words: "Preserving the Char House is about more than saving a building. It is about honoring Sugar Land’s history and the generations who built this community," Mayor Carol McCutcheon said in the release.

What’s next: Following community input sessions, the Town Planning & Urban Design Collaborative—which led the Nov. 3-6 sessions—is scheduled to propose a plan for the historic district to council by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, preservation design services will begin immediately and are anticipated to take about four months. Following design, preservation work is expected to start in April 2026 and take 18 to 24 months.

Additional funds are set to support the over $15 million improvements coming to Missouri City’s Quail Valley Golf Club, which operates the La Quinta and El Dorado golf courses.

What’s happening: At a Nov. 17 meeting, Missouri City City Council unanimously approved a new contract and change order totaling $636,446 with Greenscapes Six LLC for additional La Quinta Golf Course improvements.

The new contract and changes build upon a $5.63 million contract approved in December 2024 to enhance course amenities, improve infrastructure, preserve city property and address drainage needs, Community Impact reported.

The details: A new $351,398 contract will fund restroom improvements, including the construction of new bathrooms at the seventh and 12holes, the renovation of the third hole restroom and demolition of existing bathrooms, per agenda documents. Meanwhile, a $285,047 change order will fund several items, including sprinkler heads, sodding and additional drainage needs. 

Zooming out: The golf club will also see changes, including new cart paths, a new golf maintenance facility and several improvements to City Centre, Community Impact reported. 

From wellness studios to no-tipping eateries, check out the new businesses opened this summer at Tang City Plaza, a mixed-use commercial building in Missouri City.

The openings: Complex representative Edmond Lee said the new businesses include:

• Keep Fit Yoga Pilates
• Hong Kong Food Court
• Love Me Twice Vintage
• Vegee Green
• Fill Me Up Milk Tea
• Foodie BBQ

• 4899 Hwy. 6, Missouri City

Thanksgiving week is expected to be one of the busiest U.S. travel periods in history, according to projections from AAA. A record 5.8 million Texans are projected to travel at least 50 miles from home Nov. 25-Dec. 1.

Zooming in: About 5.3 million Texans are expected to drive to their Thanksgiving destinations, according to a Nov. 17 news release, while about 328,000 people will fly and 140,000 will use other forms of transportation.

The impact: Texans should give themselves extra time to reach their destinations during Thanksgiving week, with the most congestion expected Nov. 25-26. Traffic is also expected to be heavy as Texans return home Nov. 30, according to INRIX, a transportation data company.

Minimal traffic is expected on Thanksgiving Day.

More details: Texas drivers will pay about the same for gas as they did last Thanksgiving, according to AAA Texas. One gallon of regular unleaded gas cost about $2.65 in Texas as of Nov. 13, down from $2.69 last year.

Google is targeting Texas for future investments in data and artificial infrastructure, with $40 billion expected to be spent on adding three new data centers.

Federal, state and local leaders announced the new centers to be constructed in Armstrong and Haskell counties at a Nov. 14 event at the first Texas Google Data Center in Midlothian, near the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

The gist: One new data center will be constructed in Armstrong County near Amarillo, and two new data centers will be constructed in Haskell County near Abilene. One center in Haskell County will also use a new solar and battery energy storage plant.

“They say that everything is bigger in Texas—and that certainly applies to the golden opportunity with AI,” Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said.

Also of note: The driverless car company Waymo is expanding to North Texas in 2026, Pichai said.