On October 4, 2011 HR&A presented our analysis of the curernt operation of Santa Monica Airport to the Santa Monica City Council. The results showed that the airport, and business and non-profit operations on “residual land” adjacent to the airport runway, generate about $275 million of total economic activity in the City’s economy and support about 1,475 total jobs. The analysis was commissioned by the city to assist in plannnig for the future of the 227-acre area in advance of 2015, when all existing leases expire.

Santa Monica Airport has played an important role in the city’s development and in the history of U.S. aviation since it was established in 1926. The airport was formerly the site of a major Douglas Aircraft manfacturing plant that was crucial to supporting military aircraft production during WW II and the Korean War. Today, it is one of the busiest general avaiation airports in Los Angeles County, but is surrouded by Santa Monica and City of Los Angeles neighborhoods. Despite precedent-setting noise control sytems and other local measures to render the airport more compatible with its neigbors, the operation of the airport remains controversial. HR&A’s baseline economic analysis will assist the City in evaluating the potential benefits of future redevelopment alternatives in the next phases of planning.

Read more about HR&A’s Santa Monica Airport study

We are pleased to announce that Lionel Lynch has re-joined HR&A as the Principal-in-Charge of our new office in the nation’s capital.

Lionel recently served as Senior Advisor for Housing and Finance Policy for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). HR&A’s new Washington D.C. office provides the firm with an expanded platform to continue more than a decade of experience guiding award-winning revitalization initiatives in and around the District.

Almost ten years ago, HR&A guided the work of 6 planning teams to create the award-winning Anacostia Waterfront Framework Plan. Subsequently, we led the planning and implementation work for creation of a new neighborhood on the Anacostia Waterfront: Capitol Riverfront, which has been one of the District of Columbia’s most successful neighborhood transformation efforts in the last decade. This 350-acre neighborhood surrounding the Washington Navy Yard has attracted more than $3.2 billion in public and private investment and 11.5 million SF of mixed-use development that is completed or currently under construction.

We have also provided strategic real estate advice to the District of Columbia on several projects, including managing the disposition and developer selection for the former Washington Convention Center. Construction for this mixed-use development, CityCenterDC, began on site this past April.

Currently, HR&A is working with the District government and its master planning team to assess the market potential and to propose a development strategy for the re-use plan for the 62.5 acre Walter Reed Army Medical Center. We are also collaborating with planners and engineers on a vision plan for the National Capital Planning Commission’s proposed Southwest Ecodistrict, a sustainable neighborhood on the 10th Street and Maryland Avenue corridors south of the National Mall.

HR&A has been pleased to support James Ramsey and Dan Barasch, the committed social entrepreneurs who have developed an innovative concept to create a unique new public space in the former Williamsburg Trolley Terminal running beneath Delancey Street in Manhattan.

Read more about the Low Line in New York Magazine

In September 2011, HR&A Partner Kate Coburn was interviewed by Jerry Ashton as part of the radio broadcast series “Down But Not Out- Back From The Brink”. In her interview, “How American Towns and Cities are Reinventing and Revitalizing Themselves”, Kate discusses the retail-based revitalization efforts she guides, and the keys to creating a vibrant downtown.

Kate emphasizes that revitalization efforts are most successful when led by a “champion”—be it an individual or an institution. As an example of an individual spearheading a revitalization effort, she points to the leadership offered by Joe Edwards in the efforts to revitalize the Delmar Loop, a retail, entertainment and cultural arts corridor adjacent to Washington University in St. Louis. Kate is currently creating a retail recruitment and overall development strategy to further enhance the Delmar Loop in preparation for the reintroduction of the Delmar Trolley system.

Although institutional “champions” are typically business improvement districts or special improvement districts expressly created to lead the revitalization effort, Kate explains that hospitals, chambers of commerce, and universities can be invaluable partners, too. As an example, she highlighted the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, which has taken the lead in that City’s redevelopment. The Chamber retained HR&A to analyze potential for economic redevelopment in Omaha, identify catalyst projects, and create a neighborhood-based strategy for implementation and governance.

Listen to Kate’s interview