Sulin Carling advises public and private sector clients on creating vibrant downtowns, flourishing commercial corridors, and dynamic employment hubs. She crafts economic development, real estate, and public policy strategies to foster innovation in cities.

Sulin works with clients across the country to balance private sector and community interests while advancing ambitious economic and community development initiatives. Her work includes supporting commercial corridors and small businesses in a shifting retail landscape, creating vibrant and inclusive local and regional employment hubs, planning for the future of urban industrial areas, and grounding local economic development in food systems and policy.

Sulin recently led an interdisciplinary team to create a Master Plan for Pike Place Market – the iconic public market in Seattle. The resulting Master Plan is grounded in the curation of authentic food and retail offerings that will reattract a local audience, with strategies for greater financial sustainability, increased presence of farmers, support for inclusive local entrepreneurship, and physical investments. Her other work at the intersection of food and economic development includes a study of strategies for creating affordable grocery stores in low-income and gentrifying neighborhoods on behalf of a New York City-based food advocacy not-for-profit; and a redevelopment plan for a major publicly owned produce wholesale market in a major metropolitan area.

Sulin is HR&A’s leader in industrial policy and development. On behalf of the City of New York, Sulin facilitated an Industrial Working Group – comprised of businesses, advocates, and policy experts – to redefine the sectors’ needs and opportunities.  Sulin has also crafted strategies for growing 21^st century industry for the Newmarket neighborhood in Boston and for Attleboro, MA.

Sulin helps small businesses and retail corridors adapt in the face of economic change. On behalf of Welcome to Chinatown, a not-for-profit organization focused on supporting entrepreneurs in Manhattan’s Chinatown, Sulin directed the Chinatown Impact Study, which assessed neighborhood small business’ challenges and identified interventions to support recovery. She is now working with Welcome to Chinatown design a business incubator and develop succession planning strategies. Further, Sulin is currently working with the Atlanta BeltLine Initiative on developing commercial affordability strategies to support Black and brown businesses around the transformative multi-use BeltLine trail.

Sulin helps clients plan for the changing face of downtowns. For the National Landing Business Improvement District, Sulin led creation of a Market Impact Study with strategies for accelerating growth of an innovation district in downtown Arlington, Virginia anchored by AmazonHQ2, Virginia Tech, and $4B in infrastructure investments. Sulin led development of an economic benefits case for the Fifth Avenue Association’s plan to transform Fifth Avenue into a world-class, pedestrian-focused corridor – announced by the Adams Administration in 2022 – to anchor the revitalization of Midtown Manhattan.

Sulin re-joined HR&A in 2020 after serving as Senior Economic Development Planner in the New York City Department of City Planning (DCP), where she led the North Brooklyn Industry & Innovation Plan, the most comprehensive study of an industrial area conducted by DCP in decades, and a comprehensive study of the future of retail and storefront vacancy trends.

Sulin holds a Master in Urban Planning from the Harvard Graduate School of Design and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Chicago.

Alex supports the design and implementation of policies to promote inclusive economic development, decarbonization, and climate change adaptation in cities.

As a principal based in the New York office, Alex specializes in the intersection between bold climate action and equitable approaches to economic development. Hand in hand with philanthropy and state and local government, he provides technical assistance to help underserved communities—including rural communities and underserved urban areas—tap into federal funding to deploy infrastructure and investments that drive economic development. For government and private-sector institutions, he guides the planning of projects that integrate decarbonization with inclusive economic development in order to ensure investments in renewable energy and the green economy generate benefits for all. To inform financial decision-making and infrastructure funding strategy, he evaluates and narrates the economic and social impacts of climate risks and climate adaptation investments for residents, businesses, property owners, and local governments. And he advises major government and community anchor institutions on ways to support the growth and longevity of small and disadvantaged businesses via equitable procurement, affordable capital access, technical assistance and training, and other interventions.

Prior to joining HR&A, Alex managed contracts on behalf of New York State and local government clients in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, supporting New York Rising recovery and resilience programs targeting housing, infrastructure, small business, and post-disaster economic development.

Alex holds a Masters in Urban Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as well as a Sustainability Certificate from the MIT Sloan School of Business. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from Yale University.

Giacomo advises governments, businesses, and large institutions on harnessing technology and innovation to create thriving economies and cities.

His expertise spans ecosystem development, tech product deployment and iteration, policy and strategy advisory, impact analysis, and public-private partnerships across industries like robotics, artificial intelligence, fintech, mobility, semiconductors, and digital services. Highlights include:

• • Securing a $63 million U.S. Economic Development Administration grant to position Southwestern Pennsylvania as a global leader in robotics and autonomy.
  • Leading user testing and iteration for a financial technology solution that improved gig workers’ access to unemployment benefits.
  • Developing data-sharing strategies for mobility companies, enabling collaboration among public, private, and nonprofit partners.
  • Preparing innovation strategies and impact analyses for startup accelerators like URBAN-X in New York City and institutions like Cornell Tech and Carnegie Mellon University.

Additionally, Giacomo supports economic growth through workforce development initiatives, public bank business planning, and real estate advisory. Key projects include:

• • Managing a leading research university’s successful due diligence, negotiations, and long-term lease for a block-size campus in Manhattan.
  • Crafting business, financial, and governance models for public banking initiatives like California’s proposed CalAccount and San Francisco’s municipal bank, which aim to increase financial inclusion and capital access for affordable housing, small businesses, and climate infrastructure.
  • Advising the New York Blood Center, Centre Pompidou Jersey City Museum, and New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island state governments on a variety of real estate development, workforce, and digital equity projects.

Before joining HR&A, Giacomo spearheaded technology strategies at the Massachusetts Executive Office of Technology Services and Security, helping to scale the Digital Service team, launch the new state website, Mass.gov, and reimagine the Commonwealth’s delivery of unemployment and workforce services. Giacomo also previously served as an Urban Fellow in the New York City government.

Giacomo has a Bachelor of Arts in Government from Harvard University and a dual Master of Public Administration and Public Policy from the London School of Economics (U.K.) and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (Singapore). His work has been published in TechCrunch, Gizmodo, NextCity, Foreign Policy, and in academic journals.

Amelia’s work focuses on organizational and governance design, sociopolitical analyses of place, and building technological infrastructure that combats disenfranchisement.

Based in HR&A’s Los Angeles office, Amelia has helped produce city and county-wide economic development strategies, value-capture models for open spaces, and evaluations of the real estate industry’s adoption of health and social equity practices.

Prior to joining HR&A, Amelia managed editorial and podcasting content for Archinect, an online architecture and urbanism publication. She has reported as a freelancer for Curbed.com, Places Journal, Hyperallergic, and the Atlantic’s CityLab, covering topics from street vending policy to art in transit stations. She served as guest editor for the Van Alen Institute’s editorial series on cities and mental health, and an anthology of papers for the Conscious Cities conference. In partnership with an epidemiological study on brain health at Massachusetts General Hospital, her graduate thesis research also focused on the relationship between the built environment and public health. She has also supported research on municipal managed retreat policy while an associate at the Consensus Building Institute, a non-profit dispute resolution and mediation firm.

Amelia has a Bachelor of Arts in Rhetoric with Honors from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Masters of City Planning from MIT.

Jenna works with HR&A’s Los Angeles Office to support real estate, municipal planning, and economic development projects.

Prior to joining HR&A, Jenna worked for a consortium of USC’s Spatial Sciences Institute, Studio One Eleven, and Los Angeles Neighborhood Initiative to identify and analyze potential sites in LA County for affordable housing and open space joint development for the Los Angeles Regional Open Space and Housing Collaborative. She defined criteria for site identification, assembled and created relevant datasets to analyze a variety of relevant factors, and published customizable web applications to share findings. She has also worked for Retail Design Collaborative/Studio One Eleven and for the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks.

Jenna received a Bachelor of Science in GeoDesign with a minor in Real Estate Finance from the University of Southern California.

Ashley draws on her multidisciplinary and international background to provide research and analytical work across a wide variety of urban projects at HR&A.

Prior to joining HR&A, Ashley developed growth strategies at a food-tech startup in New York City. She was previously an intern at Jones Lang LaSalle Investment Management in Hong Kong and a summer fellow at The Municipal Art Society of New York, where she conducted a wayfinding study on South Street Seaport.

Ashley graduated from Brown University with a bachelor’s degree in urban studies. Her senior honors thesis explored the intersection of preservation, development and resiliency at South Street Seaport. During her time at Brown, Ashley also traveled to São Paulo, Brazil, Cape Town, South Africa, and Ahmedabad, India with the International Honors Program studying the socio-economic landscapes of the built environment.

Michelle Castañeda provides direct support to HR&A Partners and general administrative support to HR&A staff. She coordinates business travel operations and assists with the firm’s IT-related matters.

Michelle joins the firm from Select Office Suites, a co-working office space company. As an administrative coordinator, she supported multiple locations by on boarding new associates, compiled expense reports, and arranged conferences and company events. Michelle holds an Associate’s degree in Liberal Arts and Science from Bronx Community College.

Claire provides research and analytical support for open space and real estate development projects.

Prior to joining HR&A, Claire worked for the Massachusetts Port Authority as part of the Real Estate Strategy and Policy Division, where she contributed to the creation of long-term strategies for the agency’s citywide properties and helped grow its public realm initiative. Previously, she worked for social impact real estate development firm Bastogne Development Partners and for the Center City District in Philadelphia.

Claire holds a Masters in Urban Planning from the Harvard Graduate School of Design and a Bachelor of Arts from Vassar College.

Madison works at the intersection of developing cultural institutions, urban open space, and comprehensive plans to help clients improve opportunities for communities.

Madison specializes in developments that support neighborhoods and their residents to generate connectivity through active programming and arts. He works with clients to determine the implications for development on the community, while also helping create wealth that benefits locals and groups historically marginalized. He helps clients determine the feasibility for executing a project.

Madison is based between HR&A’s New York and Dallas office, bringing his technical and analytic background to support private and public sector clients on economic, governance, and programming decisions around the country. He managed the impact analysis, development of programming, and operations for Gotham Park, a park being created beneath Brooklyn Bridge in Manhattan that will connect Chinatown and the Seaport District. Other recent development work includes the feasibility study and creation of a developer solicitation for Evans-Fintube, an 11-acre site with a 120,000 square foot historic landmark structure in Tulsa, OK’s historic Greenwood neighborhood, the site of the Tulsa Race Massacre and historic Black Wall Street. The project focuses on racial equity, economic opportunity, and community benefits. Madison also advanced the equitable development roadmap for Piers Parks to ensure that the park advances social, environmental, and racial justice in Boston, MA.

Madison has background in finance and wealth management, utilizing models to spur economic opportunity. Prior to joining HR&A, he managed private wealth clients for Bank of Texas’ Private Bank. He underwent training for various business lines, like credit and portfolio analysis, alternative investments, and municipal bond underwriting. Preceding Bank of Texas, Madison co-founded Clean Slate, a group of social enterprises employing the homeless population in Fort Worth, TX.

Madison holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance with Leadership Emphasis from Texas Christian University’s Neeley School of Business.