Garrett Rapsilber leverages real estate and economic analysis to inform urban planning and public policy outcomes which are market-grounded, implementable, and advance community goals.
Garrett has provided real estate advisory services for clients across California and the nation, covering topics including land use and site planning, inclusionary zoning programs, adaptive reuse policies, and value capture tools. His experience includes serving as an economic advisor for over 5 years to the City of Los Angeles for the Downtown Community Plan Update (DTLA 2040), overseeing the development of a comprehensive community benefits and inclusionary zoning system with will set a path for more predictable and streamlined approval of development projects in an area of the city forecast to accommodate 175,000 new residents, 100,000 housing units, and 100,000 jobs by 2040. Work also explored development topics including the viability of live-work units and adaptive reuse project, and displacement risks of LA’s garment industry, concentrated in the Fashion District, to inform zoning and other strategic policy decisions. City Council adopted DTLA 2040 in May 2023.
Garrett also serves as a leader within HR&A’s Climate Practice with a focus on the green economy and the just transition. His work has helped inform local, state, and national legislation, including economic impact analysis which supported the $150 billion investment in the nation’s electric vehicle infrastructure included in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. On behalf of the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI), he was an author to comprehensive green jobs study for Los Angeles County which found the green economy is larger than most people think, comprising 1 in 12 jobs as of 2020, and demonstrated that policy interventions are required to support the inclusive growth of the green workforce. Acting on a recommendation from that report, he worked with LACI to facilitate the Green Jobs Regional Partnership, a multiyear partnership of workforce development leaders to develop and implement a roadmap of milestones, targets, and actions to overcome critical challenges in the workforce ecosystem and achieve countywide green jobs goals. This roadmap was released in May 2025.
Garrett also offers thought leadership on the topic of public options, particularly public banking, to address market failures. His work documenting banking access in California allowed The California Service Employees International Union (SEIU) to successfully advocate for the passage of AB 1177, otherwise known as CalAccount, in October 2021 to establish a public banking option to give all Californians access to highquality, low-cost financial services. In its continued advocacy for CalAccount, SEIU retained HR&A in 2024 to refresh reporting on statewide banking access and the potential economic impacts of solving this persistent issue. The report found 1 in 5 California households cannot access basic financial services such as checking and savings accounts and debit cards and that solving the issue of financial access could cumulatively save households $3.1 billion and generate $5 billion in economic activity annually.
Prior to joining HR&A, Garrett worked for the City of West Hollywood where he researched, designed, and administered the city’s first parklet program. Previously at Strategic Development Solutions, Garrett supported applications for New Market Tax Credits, with awards totaling $270M for economic development projects in distressed communities.
Garrett received a Master of Planning degree from the University of Southern California with a concentration on economic development. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science & Economics and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish Literature from the University of Connecticut.