3 Houston innovators to know this week

who's who

This week's roundup of Houston innovators includes Zimri Hinshaw of BUCHA BIO, Kelly Klein of Easter Seals of Greater Houston, ad John Mooz of Hines. Photos courtesy

Editor's note: In this week's roundup of Houston innovators to know, I'm introducing you to three local innovators across industries — from esports to biomaterials — recently making headlines in Houston innovation.

Zimri Hinshaw, CEO of BUCHA BIO

Zimri T. Hinshaw, CEO of BUCHA BIO, joins the Houston Innovators Podcast to discuss how he's planning to scale his biomaterials startup to reduce plastic waste. Photo courtesy of BUCHA BIO

After raising a seed round of funding, BUCHA BIO is gearing up to move into its new facility. The biomaterials company was founded in New York City in 2020, but CEO Zimri T. Hinshaw shares how he started looking for a new headquarters for the company — one that was more affordable, had a solid talent pool, and offered a better quality of life for employees. He narrowed it down from over 20 cities to two — San Diego and Houston — before ultimately deciding on the Bayou City.

Since officially relocating, Hinshaw says he's fully committed to the city's innovation ecosystem. BUCHA BIO has a presence at the University of Houston, Greentown Labs, and the East End Maker Hub — where the startup is building out a new space to fit the growing team.

"By the end of this month, our laboratories will be up and running, we'll have office space adjacent, as well as chemical storage," Hinshaw says on the Houston Innovators Podcast. Listen to the episode and read more.

Kelly Klein, development director of Easter Seals Greater Houston

A nonprofit organization has rolled out an esports platform and event to raise awareness and funding for those with disabilities. Photo via Easter Seals

For many video games is getaway from reality, but for those with disabilities — thanks to a nonprofit organization —gaming can mean a lot more. On Saturday Dec. 3 — International Day of Persons with Disabilities — from 1 to 9 pm, Easter Seals Greater Houston will be joining forces with ES Gaming for the inaugural Game4Access Streamathon.

Gaming helps enhance cognitive skills, motor skills, improve mental well-being, and can help reduce feelings of social isolation due to the interactive nature of playing with others.

“This is really a unique way for (people) to form a community without having to leave their house, and being part of an inclusive environment,” says Kelly Klein, development director of Easter Seals Greater Houston. ”The adaptive equipment and specialized technology just does so many miraculous things for people with disabilities on so many levels — not just gaming. With gaming, it is an entrance into a whole new world.” Read more.

John Mooz, senior managing director at Hines

Levit Green has announced its latest to-be tenant. Photo courtesy

Levit Green, a 53-acre mixed-use life science district next to the Texas Medical Center and expected to deliver this year, has leased approximately 10,000 square feet of commercial lab and office space to Sino Biological Inc. The Bejing-based company is an international reagent supplier and service provider. Houston-based real estate investor, development, and property manager Hines announced the new lease in partnership with 2ML Real Estate Interests and Harrison Street.

“Levit Green was meticulously designed to provide best-in-class life science space that can accommodate a multitude of uses. Welcoming Sino Biological is a testament to the market need for sophisticated, flexible space that allows diversified firms to perform a variety of research,” says John Mooz, senior managing director at Hines, in a press release. “Sino is an excellent addition to the district’s growing life science ecosystem, and we look forward to supporting their continued growth and success.” Read more.Read more.

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Levit Green has announced its latest to-be tenant. Rendering courtesy

Rising Houston life science district signs health tech tenant

growing on the green

A rising life science hub has signed its latest tenant.

With a global presence, Sino Biological is a leading provider of mammalian cell-based recombinant proteins, antibodies, and related contract research services, per the release, and the recently announced location represents the company’s first US-based manufacturing facility.

“We are extremely excited about our new partnership with the Hines team and our forthcoming laboratories and production facilities at Levit Green. Hines is at the forefront of next-generation laboratory space design and development, and our new site at the Levit Green master-planned district in the heart of Houston’s Texas Medical Center will enable Sino Biological to considerably expand its research services and bioreagent manufacture capabilities into the United States,” says Dr. Rob Burgess, chief business officer for Sino Biological, in the release.

Sino's space will be in Building I at Levit Green — a 290,000-square-foot, five-story building with wet lab and incubator space — and is expected to be ready for move-in by the third quarter of 2023. The facility is the first to deliver in the nine-building Levit Green masterplan, which includes office and research space, as well as retail, residential, and more. According to the release, the building will also feature amenities — a 5,800-square-foot fitness center and outdoor garden, a 7,000-square-foot conference center, 3,500 square feet of café and restaurant space, and on-site parking.

Levit Green was first announced in the summer of 2020.

Hines is doubling down on life science real estate development, the firm recently reported. Image courtesy of Hines

Houston-based real estate giant bets on growing life science sector

shifting focus

An international real estate firm announced recently that it would prioritizing investing in life science industry opportunities when it comes to commercial real estate development.

Houston-based Hines reported that the pandemic has heightened the demand for life science real estate, and the firm explained in a news release that it will be delivering purpose-built life science facilities in growing markets that feature state-of-the-art, operator-driven design and amenities.

“The life sciences sector is experiencing an era of unprecedented growth driven by a rise in both public and private funding combined with a post-pandemic sense of urgency and market opportunity,” says David Steinbach, global CIO at Hines, in the release. “As this industry surges, it is pivotal that developers keep pace by delivering spaces that are as innovative as the tenants occupying them. Hines is dedicated to delivering purpose-built facilities that meet the physical, functional and technological needs of the occupiers.”

When it comes to design, Hines will focus on structural specification and the balance of lab and office space, providing tenants — who are all looking or different types of spaces and amenities — with flexibility and modular design.

ESG is something Hines is reportedly considering top of mind for developers, investors and occupiers, with plans to build efficient assets, source from sustainable energy, and provide low-carbon emission options.

Hines has already announced this type of facility currently in construction in Houston. Levit Green is a five-story, 270,000-square-foot Phase I lab building that has flexible Class AA quality labs key features required by top life science tenants. According to Hines, Levit Green's building features will include emergency power sources, 33-foot structural bay depths, allowing for an ideal 11-foot lab module, and floorplates more than 55,000 square feet will also enable research and office teams to create efficient configurations that enable teamwork and collaboration.

“Our carefully built team of national life science leasing, design and capital experts has put a tremendous amount of thought and effort into Levit Green’s planning and design. We are confident that our team will deliver one of the highest-quality commercial laboratory assets in the world once complete,” says John Mooz, senior managing director at Hines, in the release. “We are excited to bring top-tier projects like Levit Green to other highly anticipated, growing markets.”

Boston and San Francisco have become major life science industry hubs, but there are several global cities on the rise that Hines will be targeting, including London, Boulder, Austin, Shanghai Salt Lake City, and Pittsburgh.

Hines’ investment thesis is based on a confluence of factors that are driving the demand within the global landscape for life sciences real estate that are outlined in the new Hines Perspective: “The Potential of Purpose-Built Properties” white paper.

Levit Green is a 270,000-square-foot Phase I lab building adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rendering courtesy of Hines

The new building features a waterfront, wharf environment. Rendering courtesy of Hines

Pivotal new waterfront science lab set to cast off in The Medical Center

LEVIT GREEN BLOOMS

The first step of a pivotal new Medical Center district has been revealed. International real estate firm Hines and partner 2ML Real Estate Interests have unveiled the first look at the initial building at Levit Green.

This new, 53-acre life science complex will sit adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. The five-story, 270,000-square-foot Phase I building is designated for life sciences; JLL has been selected as leasing representative for the project, per a press release.

Sitting on the first of several lakes that create Levit Green's oasis, Phase I boasts a sprawling boardwalk environment. Tenants will enjoy waterfront amenities including a 5,800-square foot fitness center and outdoor garden, 7,000-square-foot conference center, 3,500 square feet of café and restaurant space, and on-site parking.

Ground-floor plans include more than 25,000 square feet of lab incubator space, which will provide entrepreneurs and early-stage life science companies top-tier, strategically located laboratory and office space as well as networking opportunities, per a release.

As for the building itself, amenities include: 100-percent-redundant emergency power, enhanced structural vibration attenuation, and augmented mechanical systems. Work on Phase I is slated to begin in the second quarter of this year, with occupancy beginning in Q4.

The 53-acre Levit Green proposed site. Rendering courtesy of Hines

According to data, Houston produces more medical doctorates than any other MSA and generates more research doctorates in the key life science subject areas of biology and physical sciences (chemistry, physics, etc.) than San Francisco, San Diego, and Seattle. Thus, Levit Green promises to solve the real estate demands of arguably the nation's life science capital.

"Houston is quickly emerging as a top life science cluster city and has been able to do so without the purpose-built product established in other locations," said John Mooz, senior managing director at Hines, in a statement. "The Phase I project at Levit Green has been thoughtfully designed from the inside out to include features that are required of a top-tier research environment. We are excited to deliver the highest quality of building that will enable industry leaders to better conduct their critical research."

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This article originally ran on CultureMap.

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Houston scores $120M in new cancer research and prevention grants

cancer funding

The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas has granted more than $120 million to Houston organizations and companies as part of 73 new awards issued statewide.

The funds are part of nearly $154 million approved by the CPRIT's governing board earlier this month, bringing the organization's total investment in cancer prevention and research to more than $4 billion since its inception.

“Today marks an important milestone for CPRIT and for every Texan affected by cancer,” CEO Kristen Doyle said in a news release. “Texas has invested $4 billion in the fight against one of the world’s greatest public health challenges. Over 16 years, that support has helped Texas lead the search for breakthrough treatments, develop new cancer-fighting drugs and devices, and—most importantly—save tens of thousands of lives through early cancer detection and prevention. Every Texan should know this effort matters, and we’re not finished yet. Together, we will conquer cancer.”

A portion of the funding will go toward recruiting leading cancer researchers to Houston. CPRIT granted $5 million to bring John Quackenbush to Baylor College of Medicine. Quackenbush comes from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and is an expert in computational and systems biology. His research focuses on complex genomic data to understand cancer and develop targeted therapies.

The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center also received $3 million to recruit Irfan Asangani, an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. His research focuses on how chromatin structure and epigenetic regulation drive the development and progression of cancer, especially prostate cancer.

Other funds will go towards research on a rare, aggressive kidney cancer that impacts children and young adults; screening programs for breast and cervical cancer; and diagnostic technology.

In total, cancer grants were given to:

The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center: $29.02 million
Baylor College of Medicine: $15.04 million
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston: $9.37 million
Texas A&M University System Health Science Center: $1.2 million
University of Houston: $900,000

Additional Houston-based companies landed grants, including:

Crossbridge Bio Inc.: $15.01 million
OncoMAGNETx Inc.: $13.97 million
Immunogenesis Inc.: $10.85 million
Diakonos Oncology Corporation: $7.16 million
Iterion Therapeutics Inc.: $7.13 million
NovaScan Inc.: $3.7 million
EMPIRI Inc.: $2.59 million
Air Surgical Inc.: $2.58 million
Light and Salt Association: $2.45 million

See the full list of awards here.

U.S. News names 5 Houston suburbs as the best places to retire in 2026

Retirement Report

Houston-area suburbs should be on the lookout for an influx of retirees in 2026. A new study by U.S. News and World Report has declared The Woodlands and Spring as the fourth and fifth best cities to retire in America, with three other local cities making the top 25.

The annual report, called "250 Best Places to Retire in the U.S. in 2026" initially compared 850 U.S. cities, and narrowed the list down to a final 250 cities (up from 150 previously). Each locale was analyzed across six indexes: quality of life for individuals reaching retirement age, value (housing affordability and cost of living), health care quality, tax-friendliness for retirees, senior population and migration rates, and the strength of each city's job market.

Midland, Michigan was crowned the No. 1 best place to retire in 2026. The remaining cities that round out the top five are Weirton, West Virginia (No. 2) and Homosassa Springs, Florida (No. 3).

According to U.S. News, about 15 percent of The Woodlands' population is over the age of 65. The median household income in this suburb is $139,696, far above the national average median household income of $79,466.

Though The Woodlands has a higher cost of living than many other places in the country, the report maintains that the city "offers a higher value of living compared to similarly sized cities."

"If you want to buy a house in The Woodlands, the median home value is $474,279," the city's profile on U.S. News says. "And if you're a renter, you can expect the median rent here to be $1,449." For comparison, the report says the national average home value is $370,489.

Spring ranked as the fifth best place to retire in 2026, boasting a population of more than 68,000 residents, 11 percent of whom are seniors. This suburb is located less than 10 miles south of The Woodlands, while still being far enough away from Houston (about 25 miles) for seniors to escape big city life for the comfort of a smaller community.

"Retirees are prioritizing quality of life over affordability for the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic," said U.S. News contributing editor Tim Smart in a press release.

The median home value in Spring is lower than the national average, at $251,247, making it one of the more affordable places to buy a home in the Houston area. Renters can expect to pay a median $1,326 in monthly rent, the report added.

Elsewhere in Houston, Pearland ranked as the 17th best place to retire for 2026, followed by Conroe (No. 20) and League City (No. 25).

Other Texas cities that ranked among the top 50 best places to retire nationwide include Victoria (No. 12), San Angelo (No. 28), and Flower Mound (No. 37).

The top 10 best U.S. cities to retire in 2026 are:

No. 1 – Midland, Michigan
No. 2 – Weirton, West Virginia
No. 3 – Homosassa Springs, Florida
No. 4 – The Woodlands, Texas
No. 5 – Spring, Texas
No. 6 – Rancho Rio, New Mexico
No. 7 – Spring Hill, Florida
No. 8 – Altoona, Pennsylvania
No. 9 – Palm Coast, Florida
No. 10 – Lynchburg, Virginia

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This article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

Micro-nuclear reactor to launch at Texas A&M innovation campus in 2026

nuclear pilot

The Texas A&M University System and Last Energy plan to launch a micro-nuclear reactor pilot project next summer at the Texas A&M-RELLIS technology and innovation campus in Bryan.

Washington, D.C.-based Last Energy will build a 5-megawatt reactor that’s a scaled-down version of its 20-megawatt reactor. The micro-reactor initially will aim to demonstrate safety and stability, and test the ability to generate electricity for the grid.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) fast-tracked the project under its New Reactor Pilot Program. The project will mark Last Energy’s first installation of a nuclear reactor in the U.S.

Private funds are paying for the project, which Robert Albritton, chairman of the Texas A&M system’s board of regents, said is “an example of what’s possible when we try to meet the needs of the state and tap into the latest technologies.”

Glenn Hegar, chancellor of the Texas A&M system, said the 5-megawatt reactor is the kind of project the system had in mind when it built the 2,400-acre Texas A&M-RELLIS campus.

The project is “bold, it’s forward-looking, and it brings together private innovation and public research to solve today’s energy challenges,” Hegar said.

As it gears up to build the reactor, Last Energy has secured a land lease at Texas A&M-RELLIS, obtained uranium fuel, and signed an agreement with DOE. Founder and CEO Bret Kugelmass said the project will usher in “the next atomic era.”

In February, John Sharp, chancellor of Texas A&M’s flagship campus, said the university had offered land at Texas A&M-RELLIS to four companies to build small modular nuclear reactors. Power generated by reactors at Texas A&M-RELLIS may someday be supplied to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) grid.

Also in February, Last Energy announced plans to develop 30 micro-nuclear reactors at a 200-acre site about halfway between Lubbock and Fort Worth.

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This article originally appeared on our sister site, EnergyCapitalHTX.com.

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