Although The Woodlands area holds the reputation of being a retail destination in the Greater Houston area, local experts say the area’s retail rental rates remain on par with those of neighboring communities, while local business owners say the rental rates can be discouraging to small businesses.

In 2017, The Woodlands’ average retail rental rate was $21.76 per square foot—making the community the 13th most expensive retail rental market in the Greater Houston area, according to data compiled by J. Beard Real Estate Company’s research department through third-party data providers.

Compared with similar Greater Houston area markets, retail in The Woodlands is more expensive than Cy-Fair, at $21.21 per square foot; Spring-Klein, at $18.98; and Sugar Land-Missouri City, at $18.34, according to data compiled by Caldwell Companies.

Read more at communityimpact.com

Houston was the nation’s leader for apartment demand in 4th quarter 2017 as a flurry of leasing activity following Hurricane Harvey drove up the metro’s overall numbers. The big surge in demand provided a shot in the arm to an apartment market which had struggled for momentum over the previous two years.

The number of occupied units in the Houston metro jumped by 13,755 in the final three months of 2017. Houston’s demand figure was nearly three times that of the nation’s #2 metro, Dallas, which absorbed 4,715 units in the quarter.

Read more at realpage.com

The availability of capital for Houston, ongoing population growth and the improving economy influence positive trends in the city’s commercial and industrial real estate industry, cite three market experts at the annual BoyarMiller Real Estate Forum.

“There was much optimism expressed about the city’s real estate markets and overwhelmingly our panel of experts believe that this is a good time for the industry,” said Chris Hanslik, chairman of BoyarMiller. “Our attendees were encouraged by the positive news and they appreciated the insights from three leaders involved in the research, development and transactions that fuel this important sector of Houston’s economy.”

Read more at PR Newswire.

In October, a judge ruled that the district illegally collected nearly $6.6 million in assessments and that it must reimburse the money to property owners. That case is now on appeal. The Montrose Management District can go back to operating as usual, but a judge late Tuesday ordered it to do a more thorough review of a petition seeking its dissolution.

Read More at Chron.com