Downtown San Francisco Office-to-Residential Conversion Study

November 17, 2025 / Comments Off on Downtown San Francisco Office-to-Residential Conversion Study

On behalf of SPUR and ULI San Francisco, HR&A Advisors partnered with Gensler to analyze the economic feasibility of converting vacant downtown office buildings into residential units. This first-of-its-kind study in San Francisco — ultimately incorporated into SPUR’s October 2023 “From Workspace to Homebase” report — provided stakeholders with actionable insights into the financial challenges and policy interventions necessary for successful conversions that could address both downtown vacancy and the city’s housing shortage.

Through detailed financial modeling across multiple building prototypes and market scenarios, HR&A quantified the precise economic thresholds needed to make conversions viable. The analysis went beyond physical suitability assessments to determine specific construction costs, financing requirements, potential housing yield under various scenarios, and identified the types of policies and incentives that would be needed to enable conversion projects at scale.

 

The widely circulated study directly informed policy discussions about San Francisco’s downtown recovery, as well as focused efforts by the City to increase the feasibility of office-to-residential conversions. Since 2023, the City of San Francisco has advanced fee reductions and transfer tax waivers; adopted Downtown Adaptive Reuse code relief; and formed the Downtown Revitalization Financing District to enable incentives for conversions. HR&A’s analysis served as a central framework for reimagining downtown San Francisco’s future as a more economically diverse and resilient urban center that balances commercial activity with increased residential presence.

 

Explore:

“From Workspace to Homebase: Exploring the Viability of Office-to-Residential Conversion in San Francisco’s Changing Real Estate Market”

“Office-to-Residential Conversion in San Francisco’s Changing Real Estate Market” Research for SPUR and ULI San Francisco

 

Press:

Rekindling San Francisco’s Downtown by Reviving Its Streets — Urban Land

San Francisco’s AI Growth Brings New Opportunities for City Development — Modern Construction News

SF’s Empty Office Space Could Hold 11,000 New Homes – But Only With City Hall’s Help, Report Says — San Francisco Chronicle

More Than 10K Residences Could Replace San Francisco’s Empty Office Towers — The Real Deal

San Antonio Center City Strategic Framework Implementation Plan

October 30, 2025 / Comments Off on San Antonio Center City Strategic Framework Implementation Plan

HR&A worked with Centro San Antonio and the City of San Antonio in 2011 to create a Strategic Framework Plan to transform Downtown San Antonio from a convention-focused district into a thriving residential community. The plan was officially adopted by both organizations and has generated over 8,000 new housing units. Following the successful “Decade of Downtown”, HR&A was re-engaged in 2024 to update the plan for the next decade of growth and investment.

As of the early 2000s, San Antonio’s downtown had long been defined by convention and tourism uses, but city leaders recognized the need for a more diverse, vibrant urban core to achieve their ambitious SA2020 goals. HR&A developed a comprehensive approach that began with extensive community engagement, including workshop sessions for over 500 residents and stakeholder outreach with senior City staff, the Mayor, and Council. Through this process, we recommended a “housing first” strategy as the keystone for downtown revitalization. Working in collaboration with local planning and design firm Alamo Architects, we conducted rigorous market analysis and physical site assessments to develop targeted recommendations for residential development, priority infrastructure investments, and neighborhood-specific building typologies that respected existing community character.

 

The Strategic Framework Plan became the driving agenda for Centro and the City when adopted in 2012. The Council immediately implemented one of the plan’s key recommendations—a clear, consistent incentive policy for downtown housing—which directly enabled the development of over 8,000 new residential units. HR&A continued supporting implementation through multiple related efforts, including developing a downtown retail strategy and attracting HEB’s new downtown grocery store that opened in 2015. We also supported planning for fixed-rail streetcar service and Hemisfair Park revitalization, completed a five-year market update to refine incentive policies, and developed an economic development strategy for the historically distressed Eastside to ensure citywide growth benefits all communities.

 

The 2024-25 update of the Framework Plan for Centro, the City of San Antonio, and Visit San Antonio is reviewing the progress made Downtown in expanding housing options and devising strategies to improve the public realm, support catalytic projects, and grow authentic local retail.

 

 

Explore:

2012 Center City Strategic Framework Plan

 

Press:

Consultant recommends assisting development of affordable housing in downtown San Antonio draft plan — San Antonio Express-News

Affordable housing incentives recommended for downtown — The Real Deal

After Floodgate, developer hopes to dig deeper into downtown housing — San Antonio Business Journal

Council supports developing new center city plan: ‘Every decade can be the Decade of Downtown’ — San Antonio Report

Panther Island Strategic Vision Update

October 30, 2025 / Comments Off on Panther Island Strategic Vision Update

HR&A led a multidisciplinary team to update the vision and development an implementation roadmap for the 300+ acre Panther Island project, adjacent to Downtown Fort Worth. Working with a steering committee of public-sector and civic stakeholders, we delivered actionable recommendations that align flood control infrastructure with economic and real estate development opportunities, creating a framework for transformative public and private investment shaped by community ambitions.

Panther Island is a once-in-a-generation city-building opportunity for Fort Worth to amplify the energy of its urban core and surrounding neighborhoods, sparked by an influx of local and federal funding to build the Trinity River bypass channel. This ambitious flood control project will unlock extensive development potential. The Panther Island Steering Committee—comprising the City of Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Tarrant Regional Water District, Tarrant County College District, Downtown Fort Worth, Inc., The Real Estate Council of Greater Fort Worth, and Streams and Valleys, Inc.—recognized the need to update long-standing visions and plans, with local conditions and community perspectives having evolved since previous planning efforts. This required balancing complex infrastructure requirements with market-responsive development strategies while addressing the interests of numerous public agencies, civic partners, and community organizations.

 

In collaboration with Lake Flato, Salcedo Group, and K Strategies, HR&A undertook extensive plan review and site analysis, public engagement, financial analysis, and infrastructure and regulatory assessments to create a cohesive vision for Panther Island’s future. Our work offers a roadmap for a once-neglected, industrial section of the Trinity River to be transformed into a vibrant neighborhood with green spaces bustling with activity and opportunities for living, working, shopping, connecting, and playing.

 

The Panther Island Vision & Strategy, completed in March 2024, offers a renewed strategic vision and implementation strategy that centers on the design, planning, and big ideas for Panther Island. Encompassing streets, parcels, open spaces, buildings, water, and mobility systems, the vision proposes a district that prioritizes people. It takes into account the intricate relationship between land ownership, infrastructure, and market dynamics to outline an ambitious but realistic approach with strategies for phasing, public-private partnership, and governance. Guided by this work, public sector agencies have advanced infrastructure planning and construction, land use regulation updates, and developer engagement.

 

Explore:

Project Website

Vision & Strategy Summary

Strategic Vision Update

Real Estate, Economic Development, and Implementation Strategy

 

Press:

Updated Panther Island Strategic Vision Outlines a Generational Opportunity for Fort Worth

Fort Worth leaders reveal new roadmap for developing Panther Island. Where does it lead? — Fort Worth Report

Meet the firm guiding the future of Panther Island’s real estate strategy — Dallas Business Journal

Fort Worth Unveils Bold Riverfront Revitalization Plans for PantherIsland, Envisions Economic and Recreational Renaissance — hoodline

What will Fort Worth’s PantherIsland look like? Here’s what we know about new district — Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Fort Worth’s PantherIsland Set for Transformation, Public Parks, Housing and Economic Growth in Store — hoodline

Reimagine Ravenswood: Just Transition Site Reuse Planning in Long Island City

September 23, 2024 / Comments Off on Reimagine Ravenswood: Just Transition Site Reuse Planning in Long Island City

The Long Island City northern waterfront currently hosts the Ravenswood Generating Station, the largest fossil fuel plant in New York City, providing over 20% of the City’s local power capacity. After Rise Light & Power committed to transforming it into a renewable energy hub, the Office of the Queens Borough President brought on HR&A to lead “Reimagine Ravenswood,” a community-driven site reuse, neighborhood improvement, and workforce development planning process to guide a just transition to an inclusive clean energy economy in western Queens.

The work will advance New York’s climate goals and yield significant benefits for union labor and environmental justice in Queens, serving a population of over two million residents. HR&A’s efforts are supported by funding from the NYSERDA Just Transition Site Reuse Planning Program, matched by Rise Light and Power.

 

Stakeholder engagement played a central role in the community planning process, with the community participating through a steering committee, public workshops, focus groups, and a public survey. In addition, the team, in partnership with Fu Wilmer Design, conducted both an evaluation of the existing site and an economic analysis of opportunities for talent development and business development in green industry, small manufacturing, technology, life sciences, the arts, and other growing industries in Western Queens.

 

The engagement and analysis are informing alternative site reuse plans for the power plant parcel, community revitalization strategies for the broader neighborhood, inclusive workforce development strategies focused on green jobs and other growing sectors, and a focused action plan and timeline for reimaging the site and its connection to the surrounding neighborhood.

 

Explore 

NYSERDA Just Transition Site Reuse Planning Program 

Reimagine Ravenswood Full Report

Press 

Ravenswood Generating Station is going green, Borough President launches community study — LIC Post 

BP Richards, city officials launch ‘historic’ community-driven ‘Reimagine Ravenswood’ plan — QNS

Richmond Business Recovery Action Plan

October 5, 2022 / Comments Off on Richmond Business Recovery Action Plan

HR&A collaborated with the City of Richmond to develop inclusive recovery principles and a comprehensive Business Recovery Action Plan targeting small and locally-owned businesses. Our approach identified critical recovery needs, streamlined access to resources, and established actionable strategies that the City continues to implement, including expanded grant programs and improved service delivery for underserved business owners.

Richmond’s small businesses needed targeted support during economic recovery, particularly businesses owned by people of color who were reluctant to take on additional debt in an uncertain environment after the pandemic. HR&A conducted comprehensive analysis of recovery needs and available resources, developing actionable recommendations that expanded grant programs and removed barriers to accessing City services. We identified opportunities to leverage federal recovery dollars for workforce development while emphasizing solutions that could advance meaningfully within six months and align with principles of equitable recovery.

 

The resulting Business Recovery Action Plan prioritized achievable six-month milestones aligned with equity principles, leading to tangible outcomes including the establishment of a new Economic Development Working Group and development of buy-local initiatives. HR&A supported the City with implementing the plan through multi-stakeholder facilitation and then developed a long-term business investment and attraction strategy. The City’s ongoing commitment to underserved residents led to HR&A’s subsequent retention for community-centered allocation of American Rescue Plan Act funds, demonstrating the sustained impact of our collaborative approach to inclusive economic recovery.

 

Explore:

Business Recovery Action Plan

SDSU Mission Valley Innovation District Development

September 30, 2022 / Comments Off on SDSU Mission Valley Innovation District Development

Universities across the country are taking on new roles to increase opportunity for their students, faculty, and surrounding communities by creating inclusive spaces for innovation.

San Diego State University (SDSU) made the bold move to purchase a 135-acre site from the City of San Diego to create SDSU Mission Valley, a mixed-use, transit-oriented community that will help expand SDSU’s educational, research, and entrepreneurial missions. This site will include a 1.6 million square foot Innovation District, up to 4,600 residential units, a multi-use stadium, and over 80 acres of parks and open space. The entire project will increase career opportunities for SDSU’s 35,000 students, 54% of whom are students of color, and grow SDSU’s $5.7 billion annual impact on the San Diego region.

 

Quidel Corporation, a provider of rapid diagnostic testing solutions, cellular-based virology assays and molecular diagnostic systems, was announced in July of 2022 as the first partner in the Innovation District and a Founding Partner at SDSU’s Snapdragon Stadium. SDSU expects more private, public and non-profit-sector partners to be announced in the coming months, who will contribute to interdisciplinary hubs of research and innovation.

 

We collaborated with SDSU to refine a vision and business plan for the Innovation District and to guide refinement of a master plan for the district. We are currently supporting the procurement of a developer to construct as much as 500,000 square feet of space within the Innovation District, where SDSU will expand its research presence to anchor the new development.

 

SDSU Innovation District Quad and Public Realm, Image courtesy of SDSU.

Greater Corktown Neighborhood Framework & Choice Neighborhood Implementation

August 31, 2021 / Comments Off on Greater Corktown Neighborhood Framework & Choice Neighborhood Implementation

In May 2021, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced the award of a $30M Choice Neighborhood Implementation Grant to the City of Detroit that will make the Corktown Framework Plan a reality. The grant and Framework Plan were both a direct result of work HR&A has done over the last 2 years in Detroit to identify strategies that deliver equitable economic development.
 
The Greater Corktown Neighborhood Framework, shaped by the community and released in November 2020, focuses on reinforcing this vibrant and diverse neighborhood as a place of opportunity for all residents, leveraging transformative investment under way by the Ford Motor Company in a new mobility innovation district anchored by the revitalized Michigan Central Train Station. HR&A’s team, led by Kate Collignon, worked with Perkins & Will and the Detroit Planning Department to set the stage for neighborhood infrastructure and policies that preserve affordability while fueling neighborhood and citywide economic growth. The plan dovetails with the creation of the 27.5-mile Joe Louis Greenway — plans for which HR&A also supported as part of a team led by Smithgroup – which will increase mobility and recreational opportunities, and connect neighborhoods throughout Detroit to employment centers like that emerging in Corktown.
 
This plan became the basis for the Choice Neighborhood Implementation Grant application. Under the agency’s Choice Neighborhoods Initiative, five communities received a combined $150M to invest in neighborhoods to spur comprehensive revitalization. Working alongside the Detroit City Housing Department, an HR&A team led by Phillip Kash developed an approach and helped to prepare the application that led to a $30M award for Corktown. This is HR&A’s second successful Choice Neighborhood Implementation Grant application. The first was for the redevelopment of the Saint Paul’s Quadrant in Norfolk, VA.
 
Now awarded, the Choice Grant will serve as the foundation of making The Corktown Plan a reality. It will preserve the existing public housing in the neighborhood and create more than 700 new affordable and mixed-income homes. In addition, the grant will leverage over $800M in additional public and private investment in public space, community facilities and commercial development.
 
The redevelopment approach sets a new gold standard for public housing redevelopment:

  • It will follow the Build First principal. New affordable housing will be built for current public housing residents before any units are demolished, ensuring that no one is forced out.
  • It will exceed 1:1 replacement for deeply affordable units. When completed there will be 152 units that are deeply affordable units as opposed to the 87 that existed before.
  • The supply of affordable housing in the neighborhood will increase, even as the market strengthens. In addition to the 152 deeply affordable units (30% AMI), there will be another 500+ units of affordable housing.
  • There will be affordable homeownership, and the opportunity to build wealth. The project includes 150 units of affordable homeownership and $5M in down payment assistance to make those homes affordable for households who would otherwise lack the wealth to purchase them.
  • Nonprofit ownership and control will increase. The Community Builders, a well-respected national nonprofit, will own and operate the majority of the housing developed. The current ownership is entirely by for-profit organizations.

 
 
Read more on the project:

 

See more from our project partners:

The Ion Innovation District Master Plan and Development Strategy

January 14, 2020 / Comments Off on The Ion Innovation District Master Plan and Development Strategy

HR&A served as strategic partner and development advisor to Rice Management Company for The Ion and the broader 16-acre Ion District in Houston, overseeing real estate and programmatic development. This comprehensive advisory role has successfully transformed a former Sears building into a thriving innovation hub while laying the groundwork for a 3-5 million square foot mixed-use innovation district that fosters an inclusive tech ecosystem and creates equitable economic opportunities.

Beginning in 2018, HR&A led the selection of the planning and urban design team and oversaw the creation of a master plan that emphasized walkability, open space, and resilience. To catalyze the district, we managed the transformation of the former Sears building into The Ion, a 266,000-square-foot innovation hub now home to Microsoft, Chevron Technology Ventures, flexible workspaces, classrooms, event space, and minority-owned restaurants. HR&A guided the financial planning, tenant strategy, programming, branding, and community engagement to ensure that the building benefits its neighbors by fostering an inclusive, welcoming neighborhood and creating equitable economic opportunities. HR&A also supported Rice Management Company in negotiating a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) with the City of Houston and in securing a development agreement with the Midtown Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone to fund essential infrastructure.

 

As the Ion District evolved, HR&A continued to advise on development strategy and partner selection for subsequent phases, while also underwriting Rice’s first affordable housing investment under the CBA. In collaboration with Rice Management Company and a broader consultant team, we helped shape a district that will reflect Houston’s diversity and position it as a national model for inclusive innovation. With early success, including the arrival of Greentown Labs and high-profile corporate tenants, the Ion District is poised for continued growth and long-term impact.

 

Explore:

Ion District: Houston’s Innovation Community

 

Press:

Welcome to Ion District, Houston’s innovation community

Microsoft signs on as tenant in The Ion innovation hub

Chevron signs on as first tenant in The Ion innovation hub

The Ion in Houston upgrades an art deco Sears into a tech-incubating cyborg

 

Awards and Recognition:

2024 Development of Distinction Awards

Development Management & Public Financing Strategy for Broadway Station

November 29, 2018 / Comments Off on Development Management & Public Financing Strategy for Broadway Station

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 on The High Line Transformation

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