Economic Development Strategy Archives - Page 4 of 4

PlaNYC & OneNYC

December 18, 2015 / Comments Off

HR&A supported multi-agency, cross-disciplinary planning efforts for PlaNYC and led the creation of OneNYC, the City of New York’s long-term plans.

The Bloomberg administration first developed PlaNYC in 2007 as the City’s bold plan for sustainable growth in New York City through 2030. HR&A provided policy advisory services for the creation of the initial plan and supported the development of an update in 2011. In 2015, HR&A worked closely with the Mayor’s Office to project manage the update to PlaNYC, incorporating Mayor de Blasio’s policy goals of equity and inclusion in OneNYC: The Plan for a Strong and Just City.

As project manager and lead advisor for OneNYC, HR&A worked with over 70 agencies and the Mayor’s Office to develop a plan focused around four visions for the City of New York: Growth, Equity, Sustainability, and Resiliency.

OneNYC will guide the city on a path of broad-based growth that includes all five boroughs and lifts up the city’s most vulnerable populations. HR&A worked with departments and agencies to set ambitious long-term targets and create major initiatives to support job creation, population growth, household income, housing affordability, and transit access to jobs for New Yorkers.

In addition to project management and agency coordination, HR&A implemented a community and stakeholder outreach initiative and prepared an in-depth policy analysis.

We worked with the Mayor’s Office to develop an outreach strategy to ensure that the voices of New Yorkers were incorporated into OneNYC. Through town hall meetings, elected official briefings, and a public survey, our team sought input from thousands of New Yorkers to understand how the City’s 30-year plan could better serve them. HR&A also prepared an analysis of the economic, demographic, and environmental trends influencing the city and its surrounding region today and in the future. This critical work led to the development of the Plan’s economic, transportation, and housing initiatives.

Mayor Bill de Blasio launched OneNYC on April 22, 2015.

The City subsequently proposed a 10-year capital strategy within its executive budget that included $22 billion in capital allocations to OneNYC initiatives. Prior to the launch, HR&A spearheaded an effort to create a database and map of $266 billion in planned future capital investment by the City and its regional and state partners. Our work on this will provide the City a valuable tool to inform and track future investment decisions.

HR&A also provided advisory services for the creation of the initial PlaNYC 2030, unveiled in 2007, and supported the development of an update in 2011, for which we provided policy support.

In 2007, HR&A served as project manager and lead advisor for the development of a long-range transportation plan under PlaNYC. We provided the foundation for the final policy initiatives, which created a comprehensive framework for future transportation planning in New York City. To cover the wide range of complex and interrelated issues related to transportation planning in the City, HR&A convened and led an interagency team with representation from the Mayor’s Office, the Department of Transportation, and the New York City Economic Development Corporation. The team evaluated the current state of local transportation systems, and drafted policy recommendations to improve and expand sustainable transportation infrastructure. In addition, HR&A identified strategies to spur brownfield redevelopment and in August 2010, then-Mayor Bloomberg launched the nation’s first municipal brownfield cleanup program.

In support of PlaNYC 2.0 in 2011, the first major update to PlaNYC, HR&A evaluated existing energy efficiency and clean distributed generation funding programs available to real estate owners and tenants in New York City. The firm examined existing energy program budgets and expenditures, and issued policy recommendations for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the programs.

Single Sales Factor Tax Analysis

December 18, 2015 / Comments Off

HR&A demonstrated the economic and fiscal benefits of the Single Sales Factor tax policy in New York City and State.

Single Sales Factor is a tax policy change that encourages companies to keep jobs and capital in New York City. HR&A worked on behalf of a consortium led by the Motion Picture Association of America—composed of Fortune 500 companies and including executives from The Walt Disney Company—to conduct an economic and fiscal impact analysis to demonstrate the benefits generated by establishing Single Sales Factor corporate taxation in New York City.

Based on HR&A’s findings, New York State signed into law legislation that contains single sales factor tax reform for New York City in 2009.

At the time of HR&A’s study in 2008, 20 states, including the State of New York had adopted Single Sales Factor apportionment. HR&A researched and reviewed academic analysis of jurisdictional tax policies across the 50 states, prepared an economic analysis of the proposed policy change for New York City, weighed evidence in support of and opposed to modifying corporate income taxes, and presented a policy proposal to senior New York City policymakers.

LAX Economic Impact Study

December 18, 2015 / Comments Off

HR&A advised Los Angeles World Airports on the local and regional economic impacts of redeveloping and expanding Los Angeles International Airport.

HR&A prepared detailed regional and local economic impact analyses necessary to evaluate alternative Master Plan concepts for the future of the Los Angeles Airport (LAX) as they evolved over nearly 10 years, and through three different mayoral administrations.

Using extensive REMI and IMPLAN modeling, the firm projected future baseline economic conditions and forecasted conditions under alternative development scenarios. Our forecasts considered the City of Los Angeles, various subareas of the City, the County of Los Angeles, the other four urban counties in the region, and the five-county Southern California region as a whole.

HR&A also assisted senior management, City officials and other project team leaders to respond to questions from a wide range of elected officials and other local and regional leaders, and the general public, about the economic implications of the alternatives.

Our work with LAX led to airport economic impact work across the country.

In association with the Los Angeles Economic Development Commission and other consultants, HR&A estimated the economic value to Los Angeles of accommodating new transoceanic flights, like those associated with next-generation aircraft.
Prepared regional and local economic impact analyses for Chicago O’Hare International Airport’s O’Hare Modernization Program and alternatives, for the Chicago Department of Airports and the FAA.
Provided two rounds of regional economic impact analysis for future options to expand capacity at San Diego International Airport, first for the San Diego Association of Governments and then for the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority.
Contributed to the socioeconomic forecasts used by aviation consultants to the FAA to analyze future airspace and airport capacity in the New York City-Northern New Jersey-Connecticut-Delaware metro area.
Prepared an in-depth economic impact and fiscal impact analysis demonstrating that the Santa Monica Airport generates $275 million in direct and indirect economic activity for the City of Santa Monica, and supports almost 1,500 full- and part-time jobs.

Economic Impacts of Airbnb

November 12, 2015 / Comments Off

On behalf of Airbnb, an online service for short-term vacation rentals, HR&A conducted an economic impact assessment of Airbnb rental activities in San Francisco and New York City.

Airbnb is a leader in the “sharing economy,” a new trend in the sharing of resources facilitated by network technologies and social tools, and HR&A’s reports are among the most in-depth studies to date of the impacts of this economic trend.

The studies reveal multiple ways in which the new economic activities associated with Airbnb — which has grown exponentially since 2008 to serve 9 million guests in cities around the world — have significant impacts on a city and its neighborhoods, businesses, and residents:

Airbnb benefits its many hosts, who use Airbnb to supplement their income;
Airbnb impacts neighborhoods that are off the main hotel beat, distributing visitor spending across many neighborhoods and businesses throughout the city;
Airbnb benefits the city as a whole. In San Francisco, it generated $56 million in direct and indirect spending in one year and supported 380 full-time equivalent jobs. In New York, it generated $632 million in economic activity in New York and supported 4,580 jobs throughout all five boroughs.;
Much of this economic activity is new. Even as hotel occupancy has climbed, the number of Airbnb reservations has grown dramatically, indicating that many Airbnb users are a different visitor segment than hotel guests. Airbnb brings new economic spending to cities from visitors who are price-sensitive and seek a “live like a local” experience they may not otherwise find in conventional accommodation; and
Airbnb also enables cities to become more competitive by attracting skilled workers and incentivizing relocation with innovative short-term stay opportunities.

HR&A’s studies have been covered by WNYC, The Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, Real Estate Weekly, Media Post, New York Business Journal, Digital Journal, Tech Hive, Curbed,Morningstar, Forbes, TechCrunch, Marketwire, and The Huffington Post, among other news sources. It also attracted substantial attention from policy experts, and elected officials. The official press release for the New York Study is available online.

Image Courtesy of: Airbnb

Economic-Impact-of-Film-Production-Tax-Credits

Assessing the Economic Impacts of Film Production Tax Credits

November 12, 2015 / Comments Off

HR&A has analyzed the economic impacts of film production tax credit programs in New York, Massachusetts, and Louisiana to support key policy goals on behalf of the Motion Picture Association of America.

New York

New York has a long and illustrious history as a center of film and television production. To remain an attractive place for filming and production, New York State enacted the Empire State Film Production Tax Credit, which has supported over 700 film and television projects since its 2004 inception. In 2012, our study of the New York State Film Production Tax Credit demonstrated the credit’s essential role in bolstering the state’s thriving film and television production industry, generating 28,900 jobs and $6.9 billion in spending. Following the study’s release, Governor Andrew Cuomo released a proposed budget containing a five-year extension of the credit. The extension and enhancement of the state’s film and television tax credit will provide the stability necessary to attract more long-term investments and create more jobs for New Yorkers all across the state. The extension expanded the scope of projects eligible for the credit, accommodates the rise of visual effects spending as a portion of overall budgets, and included provisions to drive more film production and post-production in upstate New York.

Massachusetts

In 2013, HR&A assessed the economic and fiscal impacts of the Massachusetts Film Production Tax Credit Program. Our analysis estimated jobs, wages and economic output generated from filming and post-production activities, and considered the economic impact of production as well as the spending associated with film tourism, infrastructure investments for production facilities, and value from media exposure. We found, that the tax-credit program generated 2,200 jobs in 2011 and $375 million in state spending, and also significant infrastructure investment. Following the release of our study, the state legislature rejected a budget amendment that would have capped the Commonwealth’s investment in the incentive program.

Louisiana

HR&A examined the dramatic growth of the Louisiana motion picture and television industry, in our economic and fiscal impact analysis of the Louisiana Motion Picture Investor Tax Credit on behalf of the Motion Picture Association of America and the Louisiana Film and Entertainment Association. The analysis considered three major sources of economic impact – direct production spending, visitor spending attributable to film-induced tourism, and construction of studio and other production infrastructure. The Louisiana State Legislature enacted the credit in 2002, and adjusted it to a 30% tax credit on all qualified Louisiana production spending and a 5% tax credit on Louisiana resident payroll in 2009.

From 2002 to 2013, film and television production employment increased by over 5,000 jobs, with estimated production spending of over $1 billion in 2013. In 2013 – considering both production spending and visitor spending attributable to motion picture and television tourism – the credit supported up to 33,520 jobs in Louisiana across all industries, generating up to $1.2 billion in personal income and up to $4 billion in economic output in Louisiana. In particular, visitor spending attributable to motion picture and television induced tourism in the state supported up to 22,720 jobs in Louisiana, generating up to $767 million in personal income and up to $2.4 billion in economic output. The tourism impacts are based on a survey of 1,381 recent visitors to Louisiana conducted by HR&A and Federated Sample, which found that 14.5% of domestic, out-of-state, leisure visitors can be considered motion picture- and/or television- induced tourists.

In all of these studies, HR&A used IMPLAN modeling to estimate the full economic benefits of the film credits, capturing the results in terms of jobs, wages, and economic output generated. HR&A also examined the fiscal impacts of the credits, in terms of state and local tax revenues. In all cases, HR&A’s final reports helped demonstrate the value of these types of tax credits for each state.

Arlington County Community Energy Plan Development

November 12, 2015 / Comments Off

HR&A advised Arlington County, Virginia on the development and implementation of the County’s Community Energy Plan.

The Community Energy Plan for Arlington provides a comprehensive approach to reducing the County’s greenhouse gas emissions by 75 percent between now and the year 2040. The plan advocates for improving energy generation, use, and distribution to create substantial economic, environmental, and quality of life benefits for the businesses and residents of the County.

The Plan promotes a number of goals which address residential and commercial building energy efficiency, implementation of renewable and district energy systems, transportation-related carbon reduction strategies, general County activities, and outreach and education. HR&A reviewed best practices throughout the United States and internationally to provide context in which to frame these goals and to recommend pathways to success. HR&A recommended implementation actions and public outreach approaches to advance the Plan and its goals, which included incentive and regulatory approaches, improvements to securing approvals, and social media.

On Saturday, June 15, 2013, the Arlington County Board unanimously adopted the Community Energy Plan as part of the County’s Comprehensive Plan, approved the Implementation Framework Plan, and directed the establishment of a Community Energy Plan Implementation Review Committee.