Is Texas about to experience an insurance crisis?

Welcome to Real Estate Roundup, a look at some of the biggest real estate and business stories in Houston that happened this week.

?? Progressive insurance ditches Texas after rising storm loss costs

Progressive Insurance is no longer offering home insurance to new homeowners in the Houston area after it decided to withdraw from Texas due to heavy weather-related losses.?

The insurance giant announced its decision to withdraw from the Texas market in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

"Reducing the impact from weather-related volatility is strategically important, and shifting our geographic mix continues to be a top priority," CEO Tricia Griffith said in the filing, per Insurify, a home insurance comparison site. "We continue to focus on growing in states where weather risk is relatively lower while maintaining or reducing our market share in higher volatile states that are more susceptible to catastrophic weather events and have higher exposure to hail."?

Although questions remain on whether this pullback will include current policyholders, the reason for withdrawing from the Texas market is apparent: it's too risky.

The move follows another smaller insurer's exit from Texas.

?? Houston City Council to vote on removing sidewalk requirement for developers

A proposal to eliminate the mandatory sidewalk requirement for developers will be voted on by Houston City Council next week.

Current city ordinance requires developers to construct sidewalks for newly-built single-family homes or pay a fee-in-lieu of around $12 per square foot, according to the Planning Department's?website.?

The amendment, introduced by Council Members Edward Pollard, Tiffany D. Thomas, and Carolyn Evans-Shabazz, would eliminate mandatory sidewalk construction and the fee.

The changes are aimed at addressing the unintended consequences of the original policy, which was passed by Houston City Council a year ago. This policy resulted in the construction of "sidewalks to nowhere" in different residential areas across Houston, particularly in older communities lacking sidewalk infrastructure.

"Whenever you have a policy that states that we know there's not a necessity for this, but we're going to make you do it unless you pay us, I think that it in itself is bad governance," Pollard, who represents District J, told Chron.

Here's what the vote, which comes next week, will mean.

?? Greenspoint Mall lives on with small retailers leasing in former Palais Royal

Perhaps we all spoke too soon when we said our goodbyes and laid to rest Houston's once-beloved Greenspoint Mall.?

After the Northside staple shut its doors to customers last month after nearly half a century of business, a new "Greens Mini Mall" has grown out of the rubble, operating out of what was once the original site of the Palais Royal store.

Read more.

Amtrak gets $64M in federal funds for high speed rail between Dallas and Houston

The much anticipated Texas high-speed rail corridor that promises to connect two major cities continues to advance slowly. The project has now received $63.9 million from the Federal Railroad Administration to establish a route from Dallas to Houston.

The funds were part of a huge $153 million funding rollout?by the U.S. Department of Transportation and given to Amtrak, the nation's leading passenger train operator. The funding will assist with operating costs and help advance a project that has been moving forward in fits and starts for the last decade. The proposed route would connect two major Texas metros in about 90 minutes and run along 10 different counties.?

But there's still more work to be done.

That's all for this week! Read more at Chron.com. Like this newsletter? Share it with a friend!