It is spring again – must be time for the annual casino gambling debate at the Massachusetts State House.

Would-be casino builders, from Indian tribes to racetrack owners, will make their case on Wednesday to Bay State lawmakers at a House hearing on casino gambling.

It is one of several hearings held on the issue over the past few years, each breaking down into a predictable pattern.

Racetrack owners and workers pack the aisles, pleading for the chance to save their dying industry by rolling out slot machines. That’s followed by a big time casino executive or two or chief of a local tribe will unveil glitzy drawings of the Foxwoods-style resort proposed for some sleepy town in the outer suburbs.

A few diehard gambling opponents will also show, arguing that legalizing casinos will turn Massachusetts into a state full of addled gambling addicts.

Surely, this year’s hearing will be as entertaining, though of course a deal between state leaders and an vote on a legislative package is still weeks away.

The buzz right now is Caesar Entertainment’s deal to team up with the owners of Suffolk Downs on plans to build a Las Vegas style casino at Suffolk Downs.

Overall, 13 different gambling bills will be discussed at the hearing, set for 10 a.m., before the House Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies. Most of these bills either propose two or three casinos or casinos and a combination of racetrack slots as well.

We’ve seen it all more than once before, but when it comes to the debate over whether to legalize casinos in Massachusetts, there’s never a dull moment.

Disillusioned homeowners fleeing for the lower costs and stability of the rental market may soon be in for a rude awakening.

After taking a dip during the Great Recession, rents are on the rise and apartment vacancies are falling, according to Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.

Rents are rising in larger, professional managed apartment complexes, jumping 2.3 percent at the end of 2010. Given the pick up in the economy, we are likely to see even bigger increases this year.

The vacancy rate for the entire U.S. rental market is down to 9.4 percent – almost shadowing the unemployment rate – from 10.7 percent in 2009. In large apartment buildings, the number of empty units is already down to a very tight 6.5 percent, the study finds.

While plans for new downtown rental rises and suburban apartment complexes are on the rise, it’s unlikely the uptick in construction can keep up with the sudden surge in demand.

For starters, you have all the refugees from the homeownership market who have been given the boot after being foreclosed on. We are now seeing more than a million homeowners a year lose everything – that’s a lot of new demand right there.

But as the economy picks and unemployment drops, the rental market will soon see more recent college graduates move out from mom and dad’s house and more demand or apartments by new immigrants as well, the study finds.

Casinos across the country have fought tooth and nail against smoking bans.

After all, if you can’t smoke in a casino, then where can you light up these days?

But a new report by the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth suggests the Bay State, should it finally legalize expanded gambling, might actually gain business by putting tough restrictions on smoking.

The survey by the Center for Policy Analysis suggests that 54 percent of Connecticut residents would be more likely to visit a smokeless casino as well as 51 percent in Rhode Islanders. Massachusetts was right up there at 48 percent.

Clyde Barrow, the center’s director and an UMass Dartmouth professor, contends that if Massachusetts were to legalize smoke-free casinos, they might actually become a draw for nonsmokers throughout New England.

That’s the word from the American Institute of Architects.

The AIA’s Architectural Billings Index remained stuck at just over 50 this March, the halfway point between boom and bust.

Basically, anything below 50 and the market is contracting, while anything above represents expansion.

Architectural billings are seen as a key indicator of the health of the construction market, with designers typically getting tapped in the early stages of a major project.

However, don’t give up hope just yet – architectural firms reported that inquiries about availability for work on upcoming projects rose 2.3 points to 58.7.

While it would be unfair to blame any single factor, the end of the $787 billion federal stimulus program is clearly being felt here.

Stay tuned.

With Bay State lawmakers debating casino gambling once again, Suffolk Downs has jumped into a big lead in the scramble for a potential gambling license.

Already backed by New York-based casino developer Richard Fields and some powerful local business players as well, Suffolk announced this morning that it is teaming up with Caesars Entertainment on plans for a $600 gambling and entertainment destination at the East Boston racetrack.

Las Vegas-based Caesars is one of the best-known brands in the gambling world. And on top of that, it is owned by Harrah’s Entertainment the largest casino company in the country.

But while this may look like another big out of town player lining up behind plans to turn Suffolk into a mega gambling resort, there is actually more to this story.

Harrah’s may hail from Vegas, but it’s headed by someone Boston’s business community knows very well – Gary Loveman, a former Harvard business school professor turned gambling mogul.

Loveman has long been interested in developing a casino in his home state – he still owns a home in the western suburbs.

Now, finally, after years of poking around, Loveman may just get a chance – provided balky Bay State lawmakers cooperate.

After coming close last year to passing a gambling bill, legislative leaders on Beacon Hill are poised to make another bid later this spring to legalize casinos.

Under the deal, Fields and his Boston partners, including concessions king Joseph O’Donnell, would develop a casino, while Caesars would be brought on to manage it.

Now I am may be jumping the gun on the Caesars Palace idea - the official word from Suffolk is that no decision has been made on the brand yet. Sure, take your time writing the press release, but I don’t think there is any big mystery here.

Loveman has been hankering to put a Caesars Palace at Suffolk for years - even telling me, back in 2007 when I was at the Herald, that he’d love to put the glitzy brand at Suffolk.

File that under institutional memory.

When it comes to office vacancy rates, the Back Bay continues to widen its lead over the struggling Financial District.

The vacancy rate for the Back Bay, home to the Hancock, Pru and 111 Huntington towers, dropped in the first quarter to 7.9 percent, Colliers International reports.

The office vacancy rate in the Financial District, by contrast, remains stuck at more than 20 percent.

We all know what’s going right in the Back Bay – it’s a lively neighborhood that businesses want to locate in, full of parks, residents and shops.

The Financial District too often comes across as the opposite – wind whipped, cold and impersonal.

We all know what the problem is – but the solution is much harder given much of the Financial District was built out years ago. In some ways, it is what it is.

A few more coffee shops just won’t cut it.

Now there’s a challenge for Boston’s next development czar!

The jobless rate in the construction industry has hit a whopping 20 percent and is growing even as the economy rebounds, a key industry trade group contends.

Construction spending nationally sank to an 11-year low while the industry shed another 1,000 jobs in March, the Associated General Contractors of America notes in a new report.

Total employment is down nearly 30 percent in the construction trades since employment peaked in 2006. In fact, the jobless rate in construction is the worst of any industry in the country, the trade group notes.

One problem dogging the industry is that federal stimulus spending on roadwork and other infrastructure is winding down, taking away a major prop.

And while developers in the private sector are dusting off plans they shelved during the downturn, it may be months or more before construction begins on many of these projects.

Just take downtown Boston, where Avalon Bay announced last fall it would be going ahead with long-stalled plans to build another residential tower at the Prudential complex.

Great, but construction is not likely to kick off until this fall.