This year's most popular stories focused on development in transportation, retail and industry.

Grand Parkway Town Center: New retail, restaurant space to span 600,000 square feetGrand Parkway Town Center

The 63-acre Grand Parkway Town Center, which will be located at the southwest corner of Hwy. 249 and the Grand Parkway, will feature about 600,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space across about 15 pad sites.

Published Jan. 13

James Avery Jewelry, RE/MAX and more to open in Tomball Marketplace

A number of new tenants have recently announced plans to open in the Tomball Marketplace shopping center, including James Avery Jewelry and commercial and residential real estate company RE/MAX.

Published April 14

Hwy. 249 project to bring development to Magnolia

Nearly a year and a half after the opening of the Tomball Tollway—a tolled 6-mile stretch of Hwy. 249 in Tomball—the Texas Department of Transportation and county officials are looking to take the next steps that will extend the roadway through Magnolia to Navasota.


After a brief planned postponement of portions of the project, all three phases are back on track to be completed by late 2018 or early 2019, officials said. While design work wraps up on the three phases, officials and developers are looking ahead to plan for what the area will look like once Hwy. 249 is complete.


Published Aug. 3


10 things to do at the Texas Renaissance Festival opening Oct. 8

The 55-acre Renaissance-themed park opened Oct. 8 with a variety of entertainment and more than 400 vendors to enjoy. The 2016 Texas Renaissance Festival, located on FM 1774 in Todd Mission near Magnolia, is open each Saturday and Sunday—as well as the Friday after Thanksgiving—until Nov. 27. More than a half-million festivalgoers were expected this fall.

Published Sept. 28

Everything you need to know about Baker Hughes and the new fracking service company coming to Tomball

Baker Hughes announced an agreement on Nov. 29 with CSL Capital Management and West Street Energy Partners, a fund managed by the Merchant Banking Division of Goldman Sachs, to create the new BJ Services, a privately-held company specializing in fracking services in North America. Fracking—or hydraulic fracturing—extracts oil and gas from below the ground by injecting high-pressure mixtures of water, sand or gravel and chemicals.

Published Dec. 2