Rice Village, a shopping district near Rice University, has begun the next phase of its ongoing makeover.

Fort Worth-based Trademark Property Co., which manages Rice Village, has been overseeing a multimillion-dollar renovation of the Rice Village District since 2015. The latest phase will update the retail space and streetscape on the south side of Amherst Street between Kirby Drive and Kelvin Drive.

Click to read more at Houston Business Journal.

During the oil slump, Houston has become an apartment renter’s paradise.

Houston apartment owners are wooing renters with up to three months of free rent and moving incentives as operators compete to keep occupancy rates up amid the energy downturn and an influx of new apartment construction.

Click to read more at Houston Business Journal.

In a season defined by layoffs within major hospital systems and mergers between smaller ones, Houston’s health care industry is experiencing some hiccups as it adjusts to a changing landscape.

For several reasons, acquisitions are strong among medical office buildings, though, and prominent investors are eyeing the Bayou City’s health care properties

Click to read more at Houston Business Journal.

New York City-based TechSpace, a co-working concept, had some reservations about Houston.

Mike Fransen, senior vice president and managing director at Parkway Inc., a newly launched REIT spinoff, worked with TechSpace to open a location in Austin’s Central Business District in early 2016.

Click to read more at Houston Business Journal.

Houston ranks among the top 10 U.S. cities in a new study of affordability for first-time homebuyers.

That’s according to SmartAsset, which ranked cities with at least 300,000 residents taking into account stable housing markets, affordable prices and the availability of mortgage loans.

Click to read more at Houston Business Journal.

Developers have historically built out their mixed-use projects in a particular order.

First came soft goods, like boutique clothing shops, followed by bigger retail and then finally, restaurants and entertainment venues.

Geoffrey Jones and Jim Murnane of Texas Real Estate Fund Inc. are forging a new path in building out Imperial Market. The co-owners and developers behind the $200 million historic mixed-use project in Sugar Land are first bringing on experiential tenants — such as coffee and gelato shops, restaurants and lounges and a movie theater — before signing on other retailers.

Click to read more at Houston Business Journal.