The Heights, Montrose and River Oaks areas have seen a rise in neighborhood boutique hotels opening in 2025. The openings coincide with Houston reaching a record number of 54 million visitors in 2024, according to the Houston First Corp.

What's happening: As boutique hotels continue to grow in popularity, more neighborhoods are helping accommodate the city’s growing tourism industry.

For example, Lily Barfield, owner of The Marlene, said historically, the Montrose neighborhood hasn’t seen many hotels, but the numbers show that Houston is a place people keep traveling to visit. She believes smaller boutique hotels will help continue to fuel that growth.

Dollars at work: Last year’s record number of visitors also led to a 15% increase in hotel revenue and contributed to a rise in the funds Houston First gives to the arts and entertainment sectors of Houston.

Heckman said the organization allocates nearly 20% of the hotel occupancy tax to the Houston Arts Alliance and predicts around $22 million will be reinvested into the arts next year.

A listing from the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation shows that a new location of Pure Green is slated to open in the River Oaks in early 2026.

About the company: Pure Green creates smoothies and juices using nutrient-rich superfoods such as fruits and vegetables. The menu includes a variety of smoothie choices, acai and pitaya bowls, steel-cut oatmeal bowls, superfood toasts such as avocado and hazelnut, and cold-pressed juices and juice shots.

Project details: The TDLR listing shows that the project includes renovating an existing space at 3515 W. Dallas St., Houston. The nearby area includes a cocktail bar, a nail spa, an ice cream shop and a Pilates studio.

The $250,000 renovation is set to start construction Jan. 15, 2026, and run through March.

• 3515 W. Dallas St., Ste. 150, Houston

Pending single-family sales in the Greater Houston area rose 7.2% year over year in November, according to the Houston Association of Realtors’ November 2025 Housing Market Update released Dec. 10. Meanwhile, single-family home sales decreased year over year in November from 6,499 to 6,347, according to the report.

What else: In terms of home prices, the median home price decreased 1.5% to $325,000, according to the report.

Quote of note: “Houston’s housing market is setting into a balanced pace,” HAR Chair Shae Cottar with LPT Realty said via news release. “Buyers now have more time, more options and a little more breathing room to negotiate. Sellers are still attracting offers, but realistic pricing and expectations make all the difference.”

The Texas power grid is expected to hold up this winter, officials with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas said Dec. 9. This is due in part to “tremendous supply growth on the ERCOT grid,” ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas said, amid an influx of data centers coming to the state.

The overview: Since last winter, over 11,000 megawatts of generating capacity have been added to the ERCOT grid, Vegas said. That growth, which largely comes from battery storage and solar facilities, could be used to power about 2.8 million homes during periods of peak electric demand.

Zooming in: Under most weather conditions, there is a less than 2% chance of a grid emergency through February, ERCOT found.

However, Texas could be in trouble in the unlikely event that a repeat of Winter Storm Uri hits large parts of the state this winter, although ERCOT noted that the probability of such a severe storm happening again was "well under one percent." The February 2021 freeze devastated an unprepared power grid, resulting in nearly 250 deaths.