Practice Area Archives - Page 2 of 8

Equitable Development Plan & Real Estate Impact Study for Harold Simmons Park

February 11, 2020 / Comments Off

The Trinity Park Conservancy is proactively linking park investment with community development to address systemic inequities in the neighborhoods around the new Harold Simmons Park.

Challenge

In 2016, the Trinity Park Conservancy received a generous gift to facilitate the creation of a 200-acre park, the first of a chain of parks within the 11,000-acre Trinity River floodway. Harold Simmons Park will connect three distinct neighborhoods – Downtown Dallas, West Dallas, and Oak Cliff – a microcosm of Dallas’ extreme racial and income segregation. Development of the park is expected to catalyze real estate and neighborhood investment along the Trinity River. The Conservancy is committed to creating a park that faces the challenges head on of creating a stronger, more just city. To facilitate equitable development of the park and local neighborhoods, the Conservancy engaged HR&A to recommend implementable strategies to leverage the $150M park investment to benefit the diversity of neighboring communities and create a model for equitable park and infrastructure development.

Solution

HR&A created an Equitable Development Plan (EDP) that provides the Conservancy with a detailed toolkit of policies, advocacy efforts, initiatives, and partnerships to achieve the organization’s equitable development vision. First, HR&A conducted real estate market, demographic, and socioeconomic analysis to understand the neighborhood context and consulted with local stakeholders, community members, and national experts to identify core risk factors (e.g. displacement of existing residents, loss of cultural heritage, perpetuated racial and socioeconomic segregation) and opportunities to be addressed in the EDP.

By evaluating the successes and failures of past efforts and the unique context of Harold Simmons Park, HR&A developed an Equity Toolkit that provides discrete tactics to prevent involuntary displacement, facilitate the creation of opportunity neighborhoods, protect cultural heritage, promote wealth creating and community ownership, and establish equitable policies and practices within the Conservancy for park management and operations. Finally, HR&A prepared an action plan to guide implementation of the EDP, detailing roles and responsibilities for Conservancy, the City, and private partners. Implementation of the EDP will require adding responsibilities within the Conservancy and growing capacity among community and implementation partners, and actions today to position the project for success.

In addition to the EDP, HR&A conducted a real estate impact study for Harold Simmons Park. HR&A’s analysis projected that the $150 M park investment will generate approximately $3.5 B in net-new real estate value, and $1.2 B in net-new property tax revenues between 2020 and 2050. These projected values accounted for a reduced market value assuming tradeoffs are made between maximizing real estate value and uplifting equity, inclusion, and community development consistent with the EDP.

IMPACT

The Conservancy has begun implementation of the EDP, including advocacy for policy changes and internal capacity building. The plan will inform the organization’s forthcoming programming plan, public sector engagement, and investment strategy in advance of a groundbreaking in 2020 or 2021.

The Ion Innovation District Master Plan and Development Strategy

January 14, 2020 / Comments Off

HR&A is serving as strategic partner and development advisor to Rice Management Company, which manages the Rice University Endowment, for both The Ion and broader 16-acre Ion District, overseeing real estate and programmatic development of the project with the goals of creating a thriving and inclusive tech ecosystem in Houston.

Beginning in 2018, HR&A managed the recruitment of a planning and urban design team and the development of a master plan that prioritizes the public realm, creates investment value over time, and supports the resilience of the Houston economy. The plan draws on an examination of precedent innovation districts across the country, assessment of market supply and demand in Houston, and cutting-edge urban design and open space planning. At full buildout, the project will include 3-5 million square feet of mixed-use development

To catalyze the District, HR&A managed the design and development process of The Ion on behalf of RMC by overseeing the transformation of the 266,000-square foot former Sears Department Store into an innovation hub to bring Houston’s entrepreneurial, corporate, academic, investment, and community members together. HR&A led the financial planning, tenanting strategy, programming, operator solicitations and partnership development, community engagement, and branding processes to ensure that the building benefits its neighbors by fostering an inclusive, welcoming neighborhood and creating equitable economic opportunities. The Ion now houses classrooms, a large forum staircase for events and programming, flexible workspaces for startups and investors operated by Common Desk, and offices for major tech tenants, including Microsoft and Chevron Technology Ventures. The Ion is also now home to three minority-owned restaurants. HR&A also supported RMC and its community partners in developing a Community Benefits Agreement signed with the City of Houston. Concurrently, HR&A provided the analysis underlying a substantial development agreement between Rice Management Company and the Midtown Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone that will support district infrastructure.

In Spring 2022, RMC, the City of Houston, and its partners celebrated the official grand opening of the Ion. With The Ion fully operational, HR&A is now supporting RMC in the selection of a development partner for the next phase of the 16-acre District. This work includes drafting solicitation documents, marketing the project to potential developers, reviewing proposals, and advising on partner selection and negotiation. Already, the Ion District is home to Greentown Labs, Houston’s first climate-tech incubator and a development partner for the next phase of the District is expected to be announced in 2023.

Development Management & Public Financing Strategy for Broadway Station

November 29, 2018 / Comments Off

Broadway Station Partners crafted a market-supportable master plan and a public financing strategy to develop one of Denver’s largest and most complex transit-oriented development sites.

Challenge

After acquiring the former Gates Rubber Company plant, Broadway Station Partners pursued development of one of Denver’s only remaining urban transit-oriented development sites. Located three miles from downtown and directly adjacent to one of the busiest light rail stations in the city, the site will provide much needed housing, office space, and walkable retail in one of the fastest growing cities in America.

Solution

Working closely with an engineering and planning team, HR&A advised Broadway Station Partners on strategies to unlock and create value by identifying activating uses, infrastructure improvements, and amenities. The team’s assessment of the local real estate market and financial feasibility of different development densities, typologies, and infrastructure programs informed the master plan, which targets infrastructure investments that improve connectivity and placemaking to unlock potential for development density and value.

To understand the extent of public financing needed for the substantial infrastructure improvements, HR&A analyzed the potential for value-capture tools to fund infrastructure development. To do this, the team assessed the impact of the development program, phasing, local market, and financing structures among other considerations for potential capital sources – including tax increment financing (TIF) and revenues from the site’s metropolitan district, or special taxing district. This analysis formed the foundation of the landowner’s tax increment financing request, financing plan, and negotiations with local public authorities, ensuring that revenues generated by the site are sufficient to finance required infrastructure and help produce market returns for the landowner in the long-term.

IMPACT

The Denver City Council unanimously approved the landowner’s $140 million public infrastructure financing request, including a $90 million tax increment financing package, the second largest ever approved in the city. Infrastructure development on the site broke ground in 2018.

The High Line Transformation

November 12, 2018 / Comments Off

HR&A demonstrated the economic rationale for transforming the High Line into a vibrant public park. The park, created by Robert Hammond and Joshua David, reinvigorated Manhattan’s far west side with new jobs, mixed-income housing, and arts and cultural development, providing an internationally-renowned model of civic leadership.

The High Line, an elevated freight railway running 1.8 miles along Manhattan’s far west side, was built in the 1930s as part of a public works project to remove trains from the street level. After decades of abandonment and disuse, the mayor of New York City signed an order to demolish the High Line in 1999. Visionary neighborhood residents formed Friends of the High Line, a non-profit organization that pledged to preserve the historic structure and create a neighborhood public amenity by converting the abandoned railway into a public park.

HR&A has supported the Friends of the High Line throughout the development and operation of the High Line

HR&A prepared an economic and fiscal impact study to demonstrate that the economic and social benefits of such a conversion would far outweigh the necessary capital costs of development.
We also worked with Friends of the High Line and the New York City Department of City Planning to craft the award-winning West Chelsea rezoning, which allowed the transferal of air rights under and around the High Line to nearby land parcels. The rezoning preserved private property rights, protected the historic railway structure, catalyzed contextual real estate development, and enhanced the position of West Chelsea and the Meatpacking District the center for art and culture in Manhattan.
HR&A worked closely with Friends of the High Line to create the park’s operating model and transform advocacy organization into a conservancy. Relying on an agreement with the Parks Department, Friends of the High Line is responsible managing the park’s public space, which receives over three million visitors a year.
Despite the Bloomberg administration’s embrace of the High Line’s first two sections, the final and most beautiful section was threatened with demolition as part of the Hudson Yards development. Even before a developer was selected, HR&A supported the Friends of the High Line in its successful effort to ensure the preservation of the entire structure.

HR&A Chairman, John Alschuler served as Board Chair of Friends of the High Line from 2009 to 2014.

The park opened to the public in 2009 to tremendous success, and now sees over five million annual visitors. Over 30 new residential commercial, and cultural development projects have been planned or constructed in the area, including Frank Gehry’s IAC Interactive headquarters, Jean Nouvel’s 100 11th Avenue residential condominium building, and a new home for the Whitney Museum designed by Renzo Piano. HR&A continues to support to Friends of the High line, providing economic and fiscal analysis to determine the High Line’s impact on the City’s municipal property tax revenues and net new economic activity.

Awards

International Economic Development Council Neighbourhood Development Prize, 2010

Images Courtesy of: Iwan Baan

Redevelopment Strategy and Entitlement Management in Long Island City

November 12, 2018 / Comments Off

CHALLENGE

Plaxall is a family-owned plastics manufacturing company operating in Long Island City, Queens for more than 70 years. Over seven decades, the family invested in local cultural and community institutions and acquired a significant portfolio of properties. Their holdings include a 12-acre assemblage surrounding Anable Basin and along the East River, which features spectacular views of Midtown Manhattan. However, the site’s obsolete built form and low-density industrial zoning prevents Plaxall from realizing the true value of its unique waterfront property in one the nation’s strongest markets for new development.

SOLUTION

Alongside a team of architects and land use attorneys, HR&A worked with Plaxall to design a development vision for the future of Anable Basin to create long-term value for Plaxall’s shareholders while addressing community needs and City policy goals.

Drawing on our deep understanding of New York City’s policy priorities, HR&A recognized that Plaxall’s experience with light industrial and artist tenants would be a key asset in discussions with the City. The team devised a unique plan that integrated industrial and artist space into new residential buildings, addressing local interest in job creation and fears of industrial displacement. The plan comprised almost 5 million square feet of new development, including 5,000 mixed-income residential units, and more than three acres of waterfront open space. The design of building forms reflects the neighborhood’s industrial heritage.

HR&A oversaw all planning activities associated with the site, including managing a 9-firm consultant team, evaluating the financial performance of this pioneering mixed-use development, leading engagement with City leadership on a rezoning, overseeing a successful application process to New York State’s Brownfield Cleanup Program, and working with Plaxall to create a long-term redevelopment strategy.

IMPACT

In fall 2018, Amazon selected the Anable Basin site as one of two main sites for the company’s East Coast headquarters, though it ultimately withdrew its selection. Since then, Plaxall has partnered with neighboring developers in the YourLIC consortium, which has engaged with City Council leadership and community stakeholders in a visioning process for redeveloping 28 acres of the Long Island City waterfront.

Climate Adaptation Strategy for Lower Manhattan

October 31, 2018 / Comments Off

Challenge

New York City, like many other coastal cities around the world, must face the realities of climate changes and its impact on the urban environment. Over the next century, regular tidal flooding caused by rising sea levels, coastal surge from stronger and more frequent storm events, heavier precipitation, and higher temperatures will all impact New York City and threaten its quality of life and economic vitality. Lower Manhattan, due to its global importance and heightened exposure, is one of the most vulnerable neighborhoods in the City.

The New York City Economic Development Corporation and the New York City Mayor’s Office of Recovery and Resiliency engaged HR&A to co-lead a team that developed a strategic plan for Lower Manhattan as part of the Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency Study.

Solution

Drawing on deep experience with the dynamics of Lower Manhattan and the design and implementation of innovative climate adaptation strategies, HR&A and the team undertook a climate vulnerability assessment that looked at long-term climate hazards, including chronic stresses, to inform the development of potential strategies for Lower Manhattan’s resilience. Strategies were evaluated based on the ability to mitigate against climate hazards and their positive economic and community impacts.

Impact

As part of the Study’s development, HR&A conducted a financial feasibility assessment and identified a series of next steps towards implementation. The recommendations of the study were released as part of Mayor de Blasio’s March 2019 announcement for a Lower Manhattan Climate Resilience plan, including a bold op-ed penned for New York Magazine. The City is currently moving to develop a master plan focused on climate adaption in the Financial District and Seaport.

Economic Impact Analysis for the Expansion of Klyde Warren Park

October 30, 2018 / Comments Off

The Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation used a detailed economic impact estimate to generate support and funding for the expansion of Klyde Warren Park.

CHALLENGE

Following the remarkable success of Klyde Warren Park, a 5.2-acre park spanning over the Woodall Rodgers Freeway, the Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation considered expanding the park by an additional block. This expansion would enhance value by improving park functionality, activating new development parcels, increasing connectivity with major venues in the city’s arts district, and creating opportunities for new attractions. To gain a clearer understanding of how the proposed improvements would affect the city, the foundation engaged HR&A to assess the potential economic and fiscal impact of these park improvements.

Solution

HR&A analyzed the incremental benefits of the park expansion in three district scenarios: (1) an economic baseline of the impact of the park since opening, (2) the future economic benefits of the current park without improvements, and (3) the future benefits of an enhanced park. The team assessed potential benefits in each scenario including – an increase in park-oriented real estate development, increased value of existing properties due to an enhanced park amenity, increased downtown tourism, and local spending and multiplier impacts of capital and operating investment.

HR&A estimated that the impact of park, at the time of the study, was $1.3B and the incremental value of the expansion would generate an additional $870 million in future economic impact.

Impact

The foundation used the findings from our reports to support outreach to potential funding and implementation partners for the project. In 2017, the Woodall Rodgers Foundation successfully secured $10 million in bond funding from the City of Dallas, $20 million from a private donor, and additional funds from the North Central Texas Council of Governments for the project.

In 2018, the park finalized a partnership with VisitDallas to create a new, best-in-class visitor center in the expanded park, which will solidify the park’s role as the central hub of Downtown Dallas’ visitor experience. Construction on the expansion is scheduled to begin in 2019.

Designing a Leadership and Training Program for Career Coaches

October 29, 2018 / Comments Off

Skillful is helping transform local labor markets by building the capacity of frontline coaches in the Colorado workforce system.

CHALLENGE

Colorado enjoys one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, but this low number masks the struggle of underemployed and chronically unemployed Coloradans. Some of the most vulnerable are the estimated 62% of Coloradans who do not have a bachelor’s degree. To connect workers with quality jobs, the Skillful Initiative works with states to develop labor markets that value skills and training over degrees or other proxies for qualifications. In Colorado, the team engaged HR&A to develop a program that would build the capacity of career coaches in public workforce development centers, community colleges, high schools, and career service non-profits across the state to better connect job seekers with quality career paths.

Solution

To understand Colorado’s most pressing labor market challenges, we interviewed over 40 workforce development professionals. We realized that Colorado had fundamental workforce issues, such as the disconnect between workforce centers and higher education, and struggles to engage rural populations. Based on Skillful’s prior work, we also knew that the insights of front-line career coaches—individuals serving as a first point of contact for job seekers in career offices across the state—could be instrumental in devising solutions that would actually confront on-the-ground, systemwide challenges.

With this knowledge, we started designing a program to provide the most dedicated career coaches with the training and support to be effective problem solvers for the state. We collaborated with workforce development experts to design a relevant and practical curriculum that built leadership and analytical skills, while ensuring that coaches could make significant contributions to the workforce development system. A key part of the program is their work in action teams to tackle specific issues, such as how to engage rural job seekers or best leverage online career resources, and develop potential policy solutions to pitch to State leadership. Apart from content development, we also ensured that Skillful could confidently run the program by designing a blueprint that included timelines, budgets, curricula, and evaluation metrics—as well as guidelines for the program launch, application process, and onboarding of new staff.

Impact

In 2017, Colorado’s Governor launched the Governor’s Coaching Corps with Skillful and the Markle Foundation. The corps selected 25 career coaches to participate in the inaugural program and create policy ideas that were presented to state leaders for potential implementation. Now, career coaches are working outside of silos and sharing resources to better assist job seekers across organizations and regions in Colorado. The corps launched a larger virtual community of practice that engages upwards of 150 coaches across the state in regular webinars to learn from and contribute to the work of the corps in devising policy solutions. To date, 20 governors across the United States have also pledged to implement a version of the Coaching Corps in their states as part of the Markle Foundation’s Skillful State Network.

Climate Ready Boston Climate Adaptation Strategy

September 13, 2018 / Comments Off

The City of Boston developed a climate adaptation plan to address emerging climate challenges while planning for future growth.

Challenge

A dense, coastal and riverine city partially built on tidal fill, Boston is confronting significant climate challenges. As the City planned for equitable growth through its comprehensive plan Imagine Boston 2030, it sought to understand local vulnerabilities to the changing climate and what actions it could take to prepare.

The City of Boston and the Green Ribbon Commission engaged HR&A and a team a climate scientists, engineers, planners, and designers to develop Climate Ready Boston, a comprehensive climate adaptation plan for the city and the regional systems it relies on.

Solution

The team first assessed how Boston’s climate will change throughout the 21st century, developing up-to-date, localized, consensus projections for multiple climate factors. Using those projections, the team evaluated the city’s current and future exposure to climate hazards – extreme heat, stormwater flooding, and coastal and riverine flooding – and quantified the potential impact on the city’s people, buildings, infrastructure, and economy.

With a clearer understanding of near- and long-term risk, the team recommended actions to improve Boston’s climate preparedness and increase citywide resilience. The team identified each action through HR&A’s five key principles of resilience-building to generate multiple benefits, leverage multiple funding sources, incorporate local involvement, create layered solutions, and leverage regular building cycles to rehabilitate and improve over time.

These actions were incorporated into a phased strategy and implementation plan, which includes roles and responsibilities, timing, and key milestones. HR&A aligned the findings and recommendations from Climate Ready Boston with the Imagine Boston 2030 comprehensive plan. As Boston is a waterfront city, many of the growth areas identified in Imagine Boston 2030, along with many existing stable neighborhoods, are in the current or future floodplain. To grow in these areas, Boston will need to implement multi-layered solutions for flood resilience and leverage some of the value of new development to support these solutions.

Impact

The City and the Green Ribbon Commission released Climate Ready Boston in 2016, and have since launched many of the recommended initiatives to increase Boston’s ability to thrive in the face of intensifying climate hazards. These actions will improve quality of life for all residents, especially the most vulnerable, and create stronger neighborhoods and a healthier environment.

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King's Drive and Walker's Point Equitable Transit Oriented Development

Commercial and Residential Affordability Study

August 27, 2018 / Comments Off

After planning a new streetcar line, the City of Milwaukee created an affordability strategy to mitigate the potential displacement of residents and businesses in existing neighborhoods due to increased market demand.

CHALLENGE

Too often, infrastructure improvements spark patterns of development and neighborhood change that inadvertently displace the very people who would benefit from those investments the most. The City of Milwaukee, while planning a new streetcar line to connect the Walker’s Point and King Drive neighborhoods to the City’s historic core, wanted to ensure that the people living and working in these neighborhoods would benefit from the transit investment and the market demand it creates.

The City of Milwaukee engaged HR&A to analyze how new development driven by the streetcar could strengthen neighborhoods and create better connections within the city. Additionally, the City wanted to understand its options for ensuring that residential, commercial, and retail rents could remain affordable to existing residents.

Solution

To clarify the expected market demand associated with the new streetcar, HR&A evaluated the local real estate market, trends, and demographics, and explored whether gentrification and displacement occurred under existing market conditions.

This market analysis informed the city’s understanding of future development needs, and the city further engaged the team to identify appropriate commercial development and tenant types, as well as a phasing strategy for the implementation of a detailed tenanting strategy.

HR&A also explored state and local policy to recommend tools that would achieve the city’s goals of (1) retaining residents and neighborhood character, (2) increasing affordable and mixed-use development, and (3) improving housing quality and homeownership prospects for area residents. To maintain the affordability of retail spaces, HR&A recommended the city develop new programs that would allow existing businesses to benefit from the transit investment, empower local entrepreneurs – including minority and women-owned businesses, and create a mix of jobs that are accessible to the existing community.

Impact

HR&A identified and described a series of effective housing and retail affordability programs to inform ongoing City planning conversations. HR&A rated the potential impact of each of affordability mechanism against City goals to develop a suite of recommended priority options for further consideration.