HPI Real Estate Services and Investment is behind a development that will feature more than 800 residences when completed in north Fort Worth.

Ground was broken in October, and dirt and utility work have followed, according to Tim Shaughnessy, president of HPI Multifamily.

The details: The 829-unit development is a mixture of apartments and cottages/townhomes, according to a news release.

The first phase will be a 396-unit, three-story apartment complex, and residents are expected to occupy the units in early 2027, Shaughnessy said.

The next phase will include 193 cottage homes, followed by an additional 240 apartments, with plans to break ground on these in 2027.

What else? HPI is investing $16 million of its own capital in the project, alongside a group of private investors that include high-net-worth individuals, family offices and registered investment advisers, according to a news release.

Charlie Skaggs, who was the department’s interim chief and the deputy chief before that, was officially promoted as the chief of Keller Fire-Rescue.

The details: Skaggs brings 25 years of fire service experience as the new fire chief, according to a city social media post Dec. 10. Before working in Keller, he worked at the city of McKinney for most of his career.

In his time with Keller, Skaggs implemented policy improvements that have strengthened fire prevention, operational readiness and EMS services across the community, according to the social media post.

One more thing: Keller Fire-Rescue’s Jeff Huntley has been named the new deputy chief.

Mil-Blox, a military-themed company dedicated to creating building block sets, recently celebrated its one-year anniversary in Golden Triangle Mall in Denton.

In a nutshell: Mil-Blox, which is short for Military Roblox, started when Thomas Mulhall, a special agent with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, started making his own suits with the help of a tailor in Thailand. That eventually led to him making his own leather goods for durability, and those products included military patches.

The inspiration: Mulhall said part of the reason he dove deep into creating the Mil-Blox brand was because there wasn’t a military-specific building set on the market.

Zooming in: When it came to finding a physical store, settling in Denton was the ideal scenario for Mulhall. He cited Denton’s Texas Veterans Hall of Fame Museum and the sense of community for selecting the area to open his first store.

• 2201 S. I-35 P1, Denton

Through a new partnership with radiology software provider Civie, North Star Diagnostic Imaging has added new technology to all of the business's 15 locations throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

How it works: The unified Radiology Information System uses artificial intelligence to reduce the administrative burden on physicians and provide an improved patient experience. According to a North Star Diagnostic Imaging news release, benefits of the technology include:

• Lower patient costs
• Faster imaging results
• Reduced wait times for scheduling and authorizations
• More time for providers to spend with patients

Approximately three dozen new Texas laws are scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, impacting how artificial intelligence is used in state government, when local officials can raise taxes after natural disasters and how much of businesses' inventory is taxed.

The background: The changes come after Texas’s biennial legislative session ended in early June. Gov. Greg Abbott signed over 1,100 laws passed by state lawmakers, many of which took effect in June or September.

The details: Some of the bills becoming law in the new year are:

• House Bill 9, which will expand a tax exemption for business owners
• House Bill 30, which will tighten regulations on counties' and cities' abilities to raise tax rates after natural disasters
• House Bill 149, which will regulate the fast-growing AI industry
• House Bill 247, which will exempt certain border security infrastructure from property tax increases
• House Bill 1399, which will create a property tax exemption for stores selling animal feed
• House Bill 2508, which will establish a property tax exemption for the surviving spouse of certain military members