All posts in “Featured Work”

New Report Outlines Roadmap For Reimagining How Boston’s Designated Port Areas Can Better Serve The Region’s Evolving Community, Economic, And Climate Needs

This press release was originally issued by Boston Waterfront Partners.

 

January 29, 2025—Today, the Boston Waterfront Partners—community-based organizations dedicated to the sustainable development and equitable use of Boston’s waterfront areas—released a new report analyzing the challenges facing Boston’s waterfront and working port communities, as a result of Boston’s outdated Inner Harbor Designated Port Area (DPA) regulations. The report offers a roadmap for revisiting how DPAs can better serve the people and industries they were originally built to protect, and support the region’s evolving economic, climate resilience, and public health priorities.

 

Massachusetts DPAs, first established by the Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM) in 1978, have been essential to protecting and growing the Commonwealth’s vital water-dependent industries for decades. Boston’s Inner Harbor DPAs have a critical role to play in maintaining Boston’s working port as an economic driver, protecting essential waterfront infrastructure, providing local job opportunities, facilitating water transit, and promoting climate resilient communities. Yet, 50 years after they were originally established, Massachusetts DPAs have not undergone a comprehensive review or any type of reform to ensure they are responsive to present day dynamics.

 

The report identifies several challenges facing Boston’s Inner Harbor DPAs, including:

    • The regulatory frameworks governing Boston’s Inner Harbor DPAs are outdated, failing to account for the latest economic, climate, and public health concerns and realities, and leaving much of their transformative potential for communities untapped.
    • Increasing and competing cross-sector pressures and priorities that are vying for use of DPAs, and utilizing regulatory loopholes to undermine them, have weakened their integrity, and strained their effectiveness.
    • A lack of public-private collaboration to address the challenges posed by DPAs has hindered long-term planning and investment.

     

    “Designated Port Areas hold massive potential to not only safeguard Boston’s existing maritime industry, but also promote an emerging and cutting-edge blue economy, drive waterfront innovation, advance environmental justice initiatives, create workforce development opportunities, meaningfully engage local communities, and much more,” said Jill Valdes Horwood, Director of the Barr Foundation’s Waterfront Initiative. “This report underscores why it is imperative that we reach this potential and reimagine the role that Designated Port Areas play, today and for future generations, in building and maintaining an economically vibrant and resilient working port, city, and region.” To address these challenges, the report recommends strategies to streamline DPA regulations, improve stakeholder engagement about decisions made in DPAs, and lay the groundwork for crucial investments in economic development and resilience. Specifically, the report calls for

     

    Planning & Governance:

    • Direct economic development planning and investment in DPAs by expanding and empowering the Seaport Economic Council to steward better-resourced, climate-resilient seaport development.
    • Invest in the first maritime economic development plan for the harbor in nearly three decades and maintain shared, detailed data on DPA economic and land use conditions thereafter.
    • Build workforce development pipelines that connect local talent, including talent in economically vulnerable communities, to high-road jobs in growing maritime industries.

     

    Land Use & Regulatory Planning:

    • Encourage clean fuel and electrification infrastructure in DPAs to help maritime industrial businesses and their supply chains transition to clean and renewable power sources.
    • Create transitional zones to give business owners more flexibility on their properties and more effectively blend water-dependent industrial uses with other uses on the margins of DPAs.
    • Establish clear and fairly enforced standards for property maintenance in DPAs, and facilitate collective responsibility for DPA property maintenance among property owners.

     

     

    Climate Adaptation & Sustainability:

    • Establish a DPA decarbonization finance assistance program to help maritime industrial businesses navigate existing financing opportunities to transition to cleaner fuels and decarbonize their operations.
    • Establish a DPA resiliency grant program to help maritime industrial businesses assess their vulnerability to climate hazards and begin to fortify their assets.
    • Channel reauthorized MassWorks program funds, supplemented with federal money, to advance large-scale environmental remediation and long-needed climate adaptation investment in working ports. Expanding and empowering the Seaport Economic Council to steward better-resourced, climate-resilient seaport development, investing in a maritime economic plan for the harbor, and building a workforce development pipeline to connect local talent to careers in the maritime industry.

     

     

    The report, which was commissioned by the Boston Waterfront Partners and researched and written by HR&A Advisors with funding from the Barr Foundation, was developed after careful data analysis of existing regional conditions and case studies investigating innovative regulatory approaches in other port cities, as well as stakeholder interviews with community members, waterfront and environmental justice advocacy organizations, and members of Boston’s maritime and development industry.

     

    “We are grateful to the Barr Foundation for funding this comprehensive report on behalf of the Boston Waterfront Partners. Boston Harbor is the region’s largest port, supporting critical jobs and economic activity,” said Katherine Abbott, President and CEO of Boston Harbor Now. “We are excited to use the report’s recommendations to help leverage public and private funds to support the working waterfront and create a climate-resilient coastline.”

     

    “Massachusetts’ waterfronts have always played a critical role in the state’s economy, supporting our fishing, shipping, and energy industries, among others. But those industrial uses haven’t always benefitted the communities that host them,” said Julia Carlton MacKay, Director of Community Resilience for Conservation Law Foundation. “By reimagining our working waterfronts, we can drive innovation, create sustainable jobs, and ensure that the communities hosting these industries have a meaningful stake in their success. With the right balance, working ports can support both economic growth and environmental stewardship for years to come.”

     

    “Kudos to Boston Waterfront Partners and their collaborators for giving us this fresh look at the importance of maintaining Boston’s waterfront vitality in the face of environmental threats and competing demands,” said Dennis Sullivan, Board Clerk and Chair of the Resiliency Committee of the Friends of the Mary Ellen Welch Greenway. “This must-read DPA report offers a model for public-private partnerships which the city needs to manage competing interests while protecting the city’s long-term interests in its core marine industry infrastructure.”

     

    “For 30 years GreenRoots has been advocating for a waterfront that is not only accessible to the community but also contributes to its well being. This report is critical because it highlights the important and evolving role of the Designated Port Area to our coastal communities. It isimportant to recognize that as we adapt our coastal zoning policies to an evolving climate and a rapidly changing real estate landscape that we maintain equity as a guiding priority,” said John Walkey, Director of Climate Justice & Waterfront Initiatives for GreenRoots.

     

    “It’s appropriate that the Bay State should have state-of-the-art port facilities that can support a thriving maritime industry, but those resources need to be connected to and serve the environmental justice communities in which they have been historically located, through jobs, training and public access to the waterfront,” said Chris Mancini, Executive Director of Save the Harbor/Save the Bay. “If we can assess the needs and potential in Designated Port Areas, we can drive both economic growth and public benefits for people regardless of race, language
    or ability.”

     

    “This report identifies opportunities to build inclusive workforce development pipelines for traditional maritime and new blue economy jobs,” said Willie Bodrick, II, President & CEO of The American City Coalition. “Boston is overdue for a public dialogue about DPAs. To fully realize the economic potential of DPAs, we must work together to foster a connected economy and develop intentional strategies that engage residents of Roxbury and other communities of color in the waterfront workforce and blue innovation economy.”

     

    About Boston Waterfront Partners: The Boston Waterfront Partners—a coalition of community-based organizations including Boston Harbor Now, Boston Harbor Women of Color Coalition, Charles River Conservancy, Coalition for a Resilient and Inclusive Waterfront, Conservation Law Foundation, Friends of the Mary Ellen Welch Greenway, GreenRoots, Harborfront Neighborhood Association, Mystic River Watershed Association, New England Aquarium, Piers Park Sailing Center, Save the Harbor/Save the Bay, The American City Coalition, and Trustees of Reservations—is dedicated to the sustainable development and equitable use of Boston’s waterfront areas. More information about the Partners can be found here. 

Derek Fleming Receives the 2024 Jason Jenkins Corporate Community Pillar Award

HR&A congratulates Senior Advisor Derek Fleming for receiving the 2024 Jason Jenkins Corporate Community Pillar award from Mayor Levine-Cava, the Miami-Dade County Commissioners, the Black Affairs Board, and the Miami Dolphins Foundation.  

  

Derek was honored for his work in Overtown, a historic African American community in South Florida, where he led a team advising the City of Miami on Master Planning and Redevelopment Strategy for Overtown’s Cultural & Entertainment District. The work involved a mixed-use project encompassing 300,000 square-feet of commercial/retail, 600-unit mix of market rate, workforce, and affordable-income housing, open space, and environmentally sustainable initiatives. Derek was the developer on the first phase of the Plan. His award-winning adaptive re-use of the historic Clyde Killens Pool Hall, where Muhammad Ali, Aretha Franklin, Nat Kjng Cole and others spent time socializing, is a centerpiece to the area’s rebuilding.

  

Dr. Enid Pinkney, an educator, community developer, and activist who has been a vital mentor to Derek, nominated him for the award. Dr. Pinkney’s legacy, including the restoration of the Historic Hampton House, has inspired much of Derek’s work in South Florida and beyond. This recognition reflects HR&A’s growing presence in South Florida and Derek’s work across the country leveraging cultural districts to drive equitable revitalization in all areas of need, in particular BIPOC communities.

HR&A Report for Service Employees International Union (SEIU) finds that 1 in 5 California Households Lack Basic Banking Services, New Program Would Save Billions

This news announcement is based on a press release that was originally issued by Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

 

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) released a report conducted by HR&A Advisors, which reveals that 1 in 5 California households cannot access basic financial services such as checking and savings accounts and debit cards, underscoring the ongoing crisis of underbanking that restricts financial opportunities for many California families, particularly in communities of color. The report finds that the proposed CalAccount program, a free, public banking option for Californians that the State of California is considering, would save un- and underbanked Californians a total of over $3 billion a year and generate $5 billion in economic activity.

 

When they cannot access banking services, low-income Californians have to rely on alternative financial service providers like pawn shops and check cashers, which can be costly, predatory and exacerbate their already precarious economic situations. For Californians without access to reliable, foundational banking services, financial stability remains out of reach. 

 

The report details how the lack of adequate access to basic financial services hurts California’s families, communities and statewide economy. Specifically, it finds: 

  • Seven million Californians are either unbanked, meaning they do not have a bank account – or underbanked, meaning they rely on costly alternative financial services
  • Black households are 3.5 times more likely to be underbanked than white households
  • Black, Latino/a, and single-female headed households are most likely to be underbanked or unbanked
  • 61% of unbanked households make less than $30,000 annually and 41% make less than $15,000 annually. 40% of underbanked households make more than $75,000 per year
  • Underbanking is of particular concern to California’s rural communities as 70% of census tracts in California do not have any physical banking outlets and another 15% have only one banking outlet
  • The widespread lack of adequate access to basic banking services costs Californians $3.1 billion each year
  • Saving Californians from overdraft fees, account maintenance fees, ATM fees, money orders, and check cashing with CalAccount, will generate $5 billion in the California economy

 

HR&A Advisors found that a solution like CalAccount is necessary to help address the financial service access gap and could be feasible for the State to implement. The proposed CalAccount program, currently under consideration by the CalAccount Blue Ribbon Commission, would generate billions and help Californians keep more of their hard-earned money instead of paying fees to banks or check cashers. 

 

Public Banking Option Would Reduce Income Inequality, Lift Low-Income Communities 

Even Californians with access to traditional banking services have to pay exorbitant fees for transactions, account maintenance, ATM use, money orders, check cashing and more. Current barriers to financial services leave Californians vulnerable to predatory lending and other financial risks. With a fee-free public banking service option like CalAccount, unbanked and underbanked households would on average save $1,300 a year, with many households saving much more. 

 

While the report finds households across income levels are underbanked, banking services are most out of reach for single parents, low-income households and communities of color. Low-income, Black, brown, single-parent and immigrant households face arbitrary requirements, like minimum account balances, to access basic banking services that are the building blocks to economic stability and security. These practices trap families in a cycle of debt, making it nearly impossible to save for emergencies or build a secure future. Meanwhile, the same fees that exclude these families from access to banking provide billions of dollars in revenue to some of the largest U.S. banks. 

 

As the report explains, a public banking option like CalAccount would narrow the financial services gap, increase opportunities for low-income communities to build wealth and put financial stability within reach for the Black, Latino/a, and single-female headed households which are most likely to be underbanked or unbanked. CalAccount is a common-sense solution that ensures all Californians have access to free basic services which are critical to financial security. 

 

You can read the full report here.

San Francisco Board of Supervisors Unanimously Accept Plan to Implement the First Municipal Bank in the Nation

This press release was originally issued by Supervisor Dean Preston.

 

San Francisco, CA — As the city and the country grapple with severe shortages of financing for affordable housing, green infrastructure, and small businesses, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors formally accepted a plan to create the first municipal bank in the nation.  

 

The approved proposal comes at a critical time as the city continues to navigate ongoing concerns with the post-pandemic economic recovery. The plans include a business and governance plan for creating a publicly owned municipal financial corporation (MFC) and then converting the MFC into San Francisco’s first public bank 

 

“As we continue to chart a path to economic recovery and a sustainable economy, the plans approved today provide a road map for our city to create the first municipal public bank in the country, a crucial strategy to ensure that our city funds are used to reverse inequities, not perpetuate them,” said Supervisor Dean Preston. “The approved plans are a huge step forward toward establishing a San Francisco Public Bank.” 

 

Public banks are not novel, with over 900 institutions worldwide controlling tens of trillions in assets, but a municipal bank would be a first for America.  

 

“The plan for the new public bank in San Francisco prioritizes social impact over shareholder returns while being financially self-sustaining, robustly managed, and accountable to San Franciscans’ policy goals and values,” said HR&A Advisors Partner Andrea Batista Schlesinger, “It will collaborate with community lenders and organizations to achieve this vision. 

 

The business and governance plans were over a year in the making. The Working Group consisted of community leaders, public banking and Community development financial institution experts, and small business leaders. The Working Group worked closely with HR&A Advisors, leaders in inclusive economic development, investment, governance, and stakeholder and community strategies; the Findley Companies, experts in establishing de novo banks and providing guidance on management, operations, and compliance in California; and Contigo Communications, San Francisco-based practitioners who co-construct solutions that reflect the needs of community members. 

 

“Given the continuing failures of our banking industry, we are stepping up in innovative ways to provide a green and equitable alternative to big banks. Our investment in the public bank protects the future of our local economy and the financial interests of San Franciscans,” said Budget Committee and Local Agency Formation Commission Chair, Supervisor Connie Chan. “We will continue to build on this momentum until we get this done.” 

 

Traditional private banking has failed to offer sufficient access to financial services for residents and small businesses, especially in communities of color. The consequences of that lack of access include inequitable economic, employment, health, affordable housing, and environmental outcomes that continue to this day. 

 

“It’s crucial we move immediately on these plans and establish a green bank.” said Jackie Fielder, co-founder of the San Francisco Public Bank Coalition “President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act presents a rare opportunity to get substantial funding for community-centered and equity-focused green banks.” 

 

Now that the plans have been approved by the Board of Supervisors, the city can now take action to implement an MFC or public bank in San Francisco. 

 

For more information on the final plans, visit https://sfgov.org/lafco/reinvestment-working-group  

 

Photo: Jared Erondu

Urban Land Institute Panel Provides National Insight on Downtown San Francisco Recovery

This press release was originally issued by Urban Land Institute.

 

WASHINGTON (June 15, 2023) – San Francisco can create a more commercially vibrant and socially inclusive downtown that attracts a diverse range of industries and employers, advances housing attainability, and promotes stronger leadership, according to findings released today by the Urban Land Institute (ULI).

 

The recommendations are the product of a panel of renowned urban planning and real estate experts convened in May through ULI’s Advisory Services Panel (ASP) offering. The panel is a multi-day program that is tailored to meet a community’s specific needs, wherein ULI members from across the country hold in-depth interviews with local stakeholders and deliberate on potential courses of action before making a final presentation of their recommendations. This ASP represents the first time ULI has worked with the City and County of San Francisco and provides an opportunity for communities across the country to learn from the findings.

 

Following the release of Mayor London Breed’s Roadmap to Downtown San Francisco’s Future, in February the panel was tasked with helping the city prioritize implementation actions and policy changes that will create a downtown neighborhood benefitting San Francisco’s residents, businesses, and the broader Bay Area region. While the panel’s findings are applicable to the entirety of Downtown, the recommendations focused on a 239-acre study area that falls mostly within the city’s historic financial district.

 

“San Francisco has a track record of responding to challenges by collaborating across sectors and thinking outside the box – it’s time to apply that muscle to the Downtown Core,” said panel co-chairs Eric Tao, managing partner, L37 Development in San Francisco, Calif.; and Kate Collignon, partner, HR&A Advisors in Oakland, Calif. “Our panelists have shown us how city government, community groups, and institutions such as ULI can evolve the current narrative of Downtown San Francisco as a place only for business interests.  We can profoundly transform Downtown into a place that welcomes everyone, drives economic benefit, serves as a center for arts, culture, entrepreneurship, wellness, and entertainment beyond 9-5, and reflects the diversity of and is embraced by all San Franciscans.”

 

Sponsored by ULI San Francisco, the City and County of San Francisco, the ULI Terwilliger Center for Housing, and the ULI Foundation, the panel provided short- and long-term strategic recommendations for leveraging the city’s existing physical assets, identifying opportunities for financial incentives, and implementing public policy reforms that promote the economic and social health of Downtown, with many of the recommendations aligning with key elements of the Mayor’s Roadmap.

 

Top recommendations include:

    • Pursue placemaking and programming to make Downtown a magnet for residents, businesses, and visitors. Ground-plane activation is needed to help transform public spaces and empty storefronts into vibrant city attractions. Revitalized Downtown community spaces will enliven the neighborhood and provide compelling spaces for arts and cultural expression. The panelists recommended specific Downtown destination zones to meet the needs of current and future residents, workers, and visitors.
    • Ensure public transit provides comfortable, safe, and easy access to Downtown, along with a welcoming arrival experience. Public transit, including Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) and Muni are reliable, but the panel recommends an infusion of funding to ensure comfortable rider experiences into and out of Downtown. Enhanced collaboration between the City and BART will be essential to ensure the transit experience, and the surrounding points of arrival downtown, are clean and feel safe.
    • Reduce and restructure business taxes to facilitate a diverse mix of companies Downtown. A meaningful reduction in the gross receipts tax, CEO tax, commercial rents tax, and transfer tax will help the city retain its current employers and help attract new businesses. Mayor Breed has initiated a process to identify broader business tax reforms to ensure the city’s tax structure is more resilient and competitive and that will be informed by the panel recommendations.
    • Incentivize office to residential conversions to address the housing shortage. Building on recently approved legislation to reduce zoning and building code barriers to adaptive reuse projects, the panel recommends providing a bundle of incentives to catalyze conversions in the short-term, with a goal of establishing a basis for purely market-supported conversions in the future. The city should require some level of affordable housing by reducing other taxes and fees. Incentives could include temporarily waiving impact fees or the transfer tax, providing property tax abatement through the Mills Act or other state legislation, and identifying other direct funding tools.
    • Counter the negative narrative about Downtown San Francisco. The panel found the negative narrative about Downtown does not match reality. While the city and Downtown stakeholders have launched a series of focused campaigns to attract visitors and businesses, the city should embark with its partners on a strong and sustained branding and public relations campaign that celebrates Downtown and rebrands it as a vibrant neighborhood, rather than just a business district.
    • Build community and governmental capacity to facilitate action. The panel emphasized the importance of coordinated leadership within City Hall to champion Downtown recovery efforts in partnership with stakeholders and the community, building on the efforts of the Economic Recovery and Regeneration division within the Office of Economic and Workforce Development. Enhanced governance and an internal champion will help expedite decision-making and approvals to reduce uncertainty, break down silos, and identify financial tools to attract and drive investment. The panel also suggested building the capacity of Community Benefit Districts (CBDs) to direct public and private resources to implement the recommendations.

     

    “The roadmap the Mayor has laid out for Downtown’s future is a strong foundation for the work we have ahead, and the contributions of this panel of national urban planning experts both affirm and expand upon that vision,” said Sarah Dennis Phillips, Executive Director of the City of San Francisco’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development. “While we’re already moving ahead on many of the ideas called out by the panel, from business tax reforms and attraction efforts to supporting a diverse mix of arts and culture events, I look forward to collaborating with city and state leaders as well as private-sector and community partners to take further actions.”

     

    Tao and Collignon were joined on the panel by Antoine Bryant, planning director, City of Detroit, Detroit, Mich.; Mike Grisso, senior vice president, development and land planning, Kilroy Realty Corporation, San Francisco, Calif.; Paul R. Levy, president & CEO, Philadelphia Center City District, Philadelphia, Pa.; Nolan A. Marshall III, executive director, South Park Business Improvement District, Los Angeles, Calif.; Rico Quirindongo, acting director, City of Seattle Office of Planning & Community Development, Bainbridge Island, Wash.; Geeti Silwal, principal, Perkins&Will, San Francisco, Calif.; Michael Spies, founder, Fuse Strategies LLC, New York, N.Y.; Sujata Srivastava, San Francisco director, SPUR, San Francisco, Calif.; and Carl Weisbrod, director, Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, New York, N.Y.

     

    “We’re grateful for ULI’s work to assemble a team of accomplished industry leaders with fresh perspectives. We’ve already rolled-up our sleeves and begun the work to take the panel’s ideas and shape them into policy,” said Rich Hillis, Planning Director for the City and County of San Francisco.

     

    A summary of the panel’s recommendations can be found here.

     

    For more information, contact media@uli.org.

     

    Photo: Sebastien Gabriel

Non Profit Equity Action Tea

Strengthening L.A.s’ Nonprofits for the Committee for Greater LA

HR&A was proud to support the Committee for Greater LA and partner with the Nonprofit Finance Fund to create “Resetting LA City to Meet Urgent Community Needs,” a report that outlines immediate actions the City can take to reduce unnecessary financial strain on the nonprofits it partners with to deliver critical services.

 

23% of all City of Los Angeles jobs are nonprofit jobs, and nonprofits are vital to the economic well-being of Los Angeles.

 

Nonprofits are critical to helping meet the needs of some of the city’s most vulnerable populations, including people experiencing homelessness. Unfortunately, too many nonprofits face barriers limiting their ability to deliver critical services to those most in need. BIPOC-led nonprofits face additional barriers, even though their cultural expertise is essential to reaching people most in need.

 

Resetting LA City to Meet Urgent Community Needs outlines immediate actions to overhaul how the City of Los Angeles works with nonprofits with the goal of eliminating unnecessary financial strains to the city’s nonprofit partners. The report reveals that nonprofits are unfairly burdened by cumbersome bureaucracy, delayed payments, and underpayments, impacting their ability to meet increased demands for social and supportive services.

 

Mayor Bass endorsed the recommendations in the report, saying ““The Committee for Greater L.A. is spot-on – Los Angeles nonprofits confront so many obstacles every day, but City bureaucracy should not be one of them.” 

 

Read more about the report findings on the Committee for Greater LA’s website here, and you can read the full report here.

 

Photo: Committee for Greater LA

Downtown DC Parks Master Plan Release

Congratulations to our client, the DowntownDC BID, on the release of the DowntownDC Parks Master Plan!

 

Working with a multi-disciplinary planning and design team, HR&A conducted a real estate market analysis for the new plan, with the goal of understanding current and future drivers of demand for parks within downtown Washington DC.

 

As part of the market scan, our team conducted a real estate market analysis scan, highlighting trends in office, residential, and retail uses Downtown, and the impacts of COVID-19 on office occupancy and visitation trends within the BID. We developed case studies of aspirational office typologies that could drive further downtown foot traffic and increase available funding for parks.  We also identified opportunities where investment in parks and open space could further Downtown’s economic development goals.

 

“The DowntownDC Parks Master Plan was created to spark interest in developing an intentional, vibrant, and meaningful downtown park system. Based on community engagement and coordination with concurrent planning efforts, the plan offers six system-wide recommendations.” Find out what they are and explore the new plan on the DowntownDC website.

 

We look forward to seeing how this new plan will help shape strategic investment to create a more vibrant, prosperous downtown DC!

Governor Hochul, Majority Leader Schumer, Senator Gillibrand Announce New York State Will Receive $100 Million in Federal Funding to Expand Broadband Infrastructure

Congratulations to our client, Empire State Development (ESD) on this important milestone! This funding will help provide access to New York families who need it most. We have been proud to support ESD in this critical work.

 

Governor Hochul said it best: “This critical funding to unlock high-speed internet for thousands of New York renters will build on the success of our ConnectALL broadband initiative while supporting the goals of our five-year plan to build and preserve more affordable housing. Thanks to the Biden administration and New York’s Senate and Congressional delegations, New York will continue to lead the nation in bridging the digital divide and making broadband available to all.”

 

You can learn more about this historic investment in Broadband in the Governor’s press release.

A Simple Housing Fix for Wake County: Buy the Building, Cap the Rent

This opinion piece by Phillip Kash was originally published in INDY Week.

 

Change is a natural phenomenon in any neighborhood – families move in and out, businesses come and go, new immigrant groups bring different languages, cultures, and cuisines. When rents begin to grow faster than the incomes of residents, however, the resulting economic pressure can force people from their homes before they are ready to leave. The result is displacement that harms individuals, families, schools, and communities.

 

Displacement, sometimes called gentrification, is primarily driven by affordability, the difference between the cost of housing and a household’s income. As rents rise far faster than incomes, long-time residents are forced to leave and are replaced by higher-income newcomers.

 

In North Carolina, unprecedented population growth and limited housing development over the past decade has eroded housing affordability.

 

The most powerful tools to prevent displacement require systemic changes to the housing market – building more housing in desirable areas, dedicating more public funding, and adopting legislation that balances tenant and property owner interests. Even in an optimistic scenario, these reforms will take years to adopt and decades to create a healthy, equitable housing system.

 

Wake County is one of a small handful of local governments around the country that are taking on a more direct solution to affordability: buying existing apartment buildings and imposing limits on future rent increases.

 

The benefits are myriad – the purchases can be targeted to neighborhoods facing displacement pressure, limited public or grant capital can be leveraged to create far more affordability, and, most importantly, the impact of these policies is immediate. Current residents can stay in their homes with the confidence that their rent will only rise in relation to income.

 

This year, Wake County has established its own loan fund to purchase existing apartment buildings, preserve their affordability and prevent the displacement of current tenants. With an investment of $10.5 million, the county is leveraging over $40 million from banks and the City of Raleigh, and is expected to preserve over 1,000 affordable homes in the next two years.

 

Buying apartment buildings is the most effective tool available to Wake County – and potentially hundreds of other counties and municipalities nationwide – to protect residents from rapidly rising rents and forced displacement.

 

Amazon has already taken up this strategy as a corporate stakeholder. The company’s Housing Equity Fund was created to preserve affordable homes in communities where Amazon has a significant employee base. Part of its $2 billion commitment to preserve or create 20,000 affordable homes, in less than 21 months since launch, the fund has committed financing for the purchase of more than 20 existing apartment buildings, representing nearly 5,000 rental homes.

 

In cities like Arlington, VA and Bellevue, WA this represents a 20%+ increase in the number of long-term affordable homes. Rents in these apartments will now remain permanently affordable, rising only as an area’s median income rises. More than half of those investments have gone to minority-led developers and thousands of those units have easy access to public transit.

 

Amazon’s story in Seattle and Arlington is one that can be replicated across the country – and local governments like Wake County can take action without the support of a major private backer like Amazon.

 

Housing affordability and displacement require solutions that provide immediate relief to give time for longer-term solutions that rely on grinding zoning fights and policy reform. Stakeholders with financial means, both public and private, can have a near-immediate impact by buying and preserving affordable housing options.

 

Photo: Unsplash

Can congestion pricing help cities become more equitable?

Written by Jamison Dague, Jee Mee Kim, and Eric Rothman

 
This spring New York City took a major step toward becoming the first U.S. city to charge drivers a fee to enter its central business district by passing the Traffic Mobility Act as part of the 2020 New York State Budget. Following in the footsteps of cities such as Stockholm, London, and Singapore, congestion pricing will reduce traffic in Manhattan and help fund New York City’s crumbling transit system, improving mobility options for the 67% of New Yorkers who take the bus or subway each day. And congestion pricing will likely help New York’s poorest residents, 56% of whom take transit to work/school and 50% of whom don’t own a vehicle.
 
But what works for New York City will not likely apply to all cities—and in some cases, may worsen conditions for a city’s poorest residents (as defined by earning 80% or below Area Median Income). There are a few steps to consider as cities around the country like Portland (OR), Seattle, Philadelphia, and even auto-centric Los Angeles contemplate congestion pricing.
 

  1. Provide appealing and affordable alternatives. The efficacy of congestion pricing depends on providing viable substitutes for driving. Alternatives should be convenient, reliable, and reasonably priced. For example, in advance of starting its congestion charging zone, London made radical improvements to bus service, replaced much of its fleet with new buses, and offered discounted fares on buses for regular commuters. Upon implementing Singapore’s road pricing initiatives, the city-state increased the frequency of public transport and built more than 15,000 public park-and-ride spaces outside the charging zone to encourage drivers to switch modes.
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  3. One size (and shape) does not fit all. Relatively few of New York City’s poorest residents and people of color commute by driving from the outer boroughs into the proposed charging zone. Most use the city’s transit network and failing subway and bus systems disproportionately impact these low-income communities of color. In contrast, 84% of residents in Los Angeles rely on a car, including the 32% of low-income drivers1 who would be affected by any future congestion pricing plan. New York’s model of charging a toll to enter the city center cannot be replicated across the board without thoughtful consideration of local issues and impacts.
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  5. Plan for equity. Early and continuous public dialogue should inform an understanding of the needs of a city’s most vulnerable residents, including low income households, people of color, immigrants, and seniors. In Los Angeles, Metro’s board recommended a motion authored by Supervisor Hilda Solis to consult academics, community groups, and local officials to lessen the impact on low income drivers. Seattle recently released a report to study the potential equity implications of congestion pricing. Like sales and property taxes, congestion pricing can be regressive—with lower income residents paying a higher share of their income to the fee compared with wealthier residents. Upfront planning and engagement can also build coalitions to garner broad support for a typically controversial proposal.
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  7. Beware of unintended consequences. The Wall Street Journal reported that congestion pricing may boost residential real estate values in the pricing zone by making streets quieter, cleaner, and safer. A 2018 study showed homes inside London’s charging zone are valued at a 3 percent premium, translating into a $13 billion windfall for homeowners. Conversely, some have argued that neighborhoods outside of New York’s proposed charging zone will suffer increased traffic as drivers cruise for limited on-street parking.
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  9. Establish an adaptable framework. Despite the political lift necessary to introduce congestion pricing, policymakers should be prepared to revisit and adjust the system to meet policy and equity objectives. For example, Singapore’s congestion pricing system, established more than 40 years ago, has incorporated electronic charging, parking fees, and is currently transitioning to a GPS-based system to refine its dynamic pricing policies. London’s traffic congestion has increased in recent years largely due to a surge in for-hire vehicles, which are exempt from congestion pricing charges and are proliferating with the use of mobile apps like Uber and Lyft. Ensuring the public continues to benefit equitably from congestion pricing requires nimble administration of the system.

 
Jamison Dague supports the firm’s implementation and management of public policy initiatives. Prior to joining HR&A, Jamison worked at the Citizens Budget Commission as Director of Infrastructure Studies where he provided ongoing economic, budgetary, and financial analysis of public sector infrastructure entities.
 
Jee Mee Kim is leader in HR&A’s Transit-Oriented Development and Transportation Practice. She works with clients to develop funding strategies, create corridor and station-area plans, and build public support for TOD.
 
Eric Rothman is a nationally-renowned expert in transportation planning, transit-oriented development, and economic development. Eric works extensively in transportation planning and transit-oriented development and He leads the firm’s work creating transit-oriented development strategies across the United States.