The Katy EDC and CEO Lance LaCour (pictured) have been working for nine years to get a new University of Houston campus. That’s finally going to be a reality, thanks to $47M allocated in Capital Construction Bonds by the Texas Legislature. UH will be looking for a new site to develop a state-of-the-art academic building that'll be at least 60k SF, UH's Shawn Elyse Lindsey tells us. (More buildings or larger size may depend on the cost of the land.) Convenience for area residents and room for future growth will be key factors in site selection; UH currently has a 37k SF facility in Cinco Ranch, but it’s landlocked by development and cannot grow.

Besides expanding its facilities, UH will bring in new programs and degree offerings. Lance says the population of the greater Katy area (305,000) is roughly the size of Pittsburgh, which supports seven universities. (And Katy is expected to top 550,000 in the next 20 years.) Katy, meanwhile, only has four higher ed institutions: UH, Strayer, Bellhaven and HCC.