Luxury apartment complex The Dakota at Kemah will soon mark the beginning of its construction with a groundbreaking ceremony.

The details: Construction will begin with a groundbreaking ceremony at 10 a.m. Dec. 9 at 2801 Lawrence Road, Kemah, according to the city. The Dakota at Kemah will have 229 apartments spread out in 10 three-story buildings, and residents will be able to choose from one-, two- or three-bedroom units with access to an amenities center, outdoor pool and private garages.

What else: Dakota Enterprises currently has five other properties in the Houston area, including a Deer Park location that opened in 2024, according to its website.

A completion date for the project has not yet been made available.

The shop offers handcrafted classic and traditional gelato flavors with an American twist.

On the menu: Located on Bay Area Boulevard, Tifa Chocolate & Gelato serves 24 flavors of fresh gelato made in-house, including stracciatella, vanilla bean, dark chocolate, cookie butter, pineapple coconut sorbetto, strawberry balsamic, espresso chip and salted caramel. Franchisee Sanaa Atkins said the store will also work seasonal flavors into the rotation.

The details: The California-based dessert franchise operates about a dozen shops nationwide, as previously reported by Community Impact. The Webster shop marks its first location in the Greater Houston area and the third in Texas.

• 1065 W. Bay Area Blvd., Ste. 240, Webster

Travelers will be able to fly directly to Rome from George Bush Intercontinental Airport, or IAH, beginning May 1, 2026, Houston Mayor John Whitmire announced Dec. 2.

In a nutshell: Italian airline ITA Airways will offer the flights to Rome Fiumicino Airport, Whitmire said during a press conference. The new Houston connection marks the ninth U.S. destination for the airline, officials said.

Joerg Eberhart, CEO and general manager of ITA Airways, said the airline will start with three nonstop flights per week in May and ramp up to five flights per week by June. The flights are already available for purchase through the airline, he said.

Quote of note: “If we look at what’s going on in the Italian economy and the Houston economy, this gives us now the opportunity to go to Italian companies and try to track more of them and locate their U.S. headquarters here in Houston because we’ve got this great service now,” Houston Airports Director of Aviation Jim Szczesniak said.