A local firm has begun offering a $1 billion private real estate investment fund that combines debt funding with equity investments.

The buildings and structures that comprise the long dormant Allentown State Hospital will start coming down this summer. Demolition contractor Neuber Demolition & Environmental Services of Gilbertsville, Montgomery County, will start July 10 and finish in February 2021, with a completion of its contract work in May 2021.

The owners of five Lehigh Valley restaurants are embarking on major renovation projects at their Palmer Township and Easton locations. Juan Martinez and his wife, Melanie, recently refinanced a loan with Lehigh Financial Group LLC of Allentown, to renovate Don Juan Mex Grill’s Palmer location.

Easton’s city government is closer to announcing a developer of the former Days Inn hotel property. A committee appointed by Mayor Sal Panto will present its recommendation of a developer for the nearly 4-acre site next week.

The recent sale of about 30 acres of farmland in Forks Township could prompt the development of a new warehouse or other type of industrial use on the land.

After working in the corporate world for many years, one Easton resident is banking on his love barbering to carry him in his new role as the owner of The Keystone Barbershop. Nathan Storck is planning to open his new business in mid-March in downtown Easton.

City Center Investment Corp. of Allentown and Lafayette’s Dyer Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship said they launched The Real Estate Lab, a program to teach downtown Allentown residents about real estate investing, with the goal of helping them become successful.

Scranton-based Peoples Security Bank & Trust Co. broke into the Lehigh Valley market when it opened its first branch in Bethlehem in 2014 and now, it’s eyeing an expansion into the Doylestown market.

After negotiating for about two years, the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority and Bethlehem developer Majestic Realty have reached an agreement on the development of a business park.

A Bala Cynwyd-based construction company is being fined more than $600,000 by OSHA for three instances of exposing employees to fall hazards at worksites in the Lehigh Valley.