We recently celebrated 10 years since opening our Texas office, so we sat down with Managing Partner Aaron Abelson to reflect on HR&A’s impact across the Lone Star State.
Can you share a bit about HR&A’s history in Texas?
I joined HR&A in 2013 in New York, right when the firm’s work in Texas was starting to take off. In those days in the early 2010s, we were working on a few large-scale planning and advisory projects. We helped lay the groundwork for Harold Simmons Park in Dallas to become a reality, developed the Strategic Framework Plan for the Center City in San Antonio that helped launch the “Decade of Downtown” and catalyzed a downtown housing renaissance, supported the Menil Foundation in developing a strategy for its campus in Houston, and worked with the City of Austin to prepare a Downtown Plan to guide growth and development.
With this growing body of work in Texas, we hit an inflection point where we needed a physical presence here to provide our clients with even better service and build a local team that could offer a blend of national expertise with deep Texas roots. So, in 2015, we officially set up our Dallas office.
It’s remarkable to think that since we made that decision, the Texas population has grown by over 3.5 million people, with the four biggest metropolitan areas driving almost 80% of that growth. Similarly, our work across the state has grown, with 75% of HR&A’s leadership having worked in Texas. Our work in this region has played an important role in shaping our overall point of view as a company. We’ve also deepened our roots here, with cultural and historic preservation becoming a really animating thread of work for our team, who grew up in Texas and are passionate about placemaking and culturally resonant planning and economic development.
After helping found our Texas office 10 years ago, are you seeing the tangible impact of our work from those early days? What is that like?
We often get involved in projects at their earliest stages, which means that seeing the physical or community impact can sometimes take years. But with a decade behind us, I am immensely proud of the positive impact HR&A has had on Texas cities and communities.
We have crafted policies that have been adopted and implemented that address crucial challenges of our time, from broadband access, to economic opportunity, and housing affordability. These include equitable economic development and historic and cultural preservation policies in Dallas, a statewide digital opportunity plan, tax increment policies for cities large and small, a Housing Action Plan for Dallas, and an equitable transit-oriented development framework for Austin.
We have guided a diverse range of organizations through strategic plans, helping leaders, including those at the Texas Trees Foundation, Downtown Dallas Inc., the Austin EDC, New Hope Housing, and the Fort Worth Park & Recreation Department, establish and operationalize their missions and priorities.
We have worked on some of the most amazing parks and public spaces in Texas, demonstrating how high-quality parks and public spaces are essential to strong and resilient communities. Our benefit assessments, funding strategies, master plans, and governance recommendations have helped move the Buffalo Bayou East vision from plan to implementation with over $300 million raised to-date, Harold Simmons Park reach its exciting recent groundbreaking, Klyde Warren Park prepare for future expansion, and more.
We have helped public and private clients unlock the economic and community value of their land through real estate projects and districts, with many projects built or under construction. Projects like the transformation of the Ion District in Midtown Houston, the revitalization of the historic Forest Theater and neighborhood in South Dallas, a new Strategic Vision for Panther Island in Fort Worth, the future Dallas Convention Center District, and various asset strategies for faith-based institutions and public agencies are helping shape a brighter future for Texans and providing access to greater economic opportunity.
Everyone I talk to across the state understands that there are significant challenges facing cities and communities right now, from rising budget pressures, to economic uncertainty, to shifting policy landscapes. HR&A has a unique history of finding opportunities and solutions to challenges that seem daunting — from helping New Orleans recover from Hurricane Katrina to helping real estate clients navigate the Great Recession to supporting communities across the state in their work tackling the housing crisis. So, our role will always evolve to meet the needs of our clients and Texan communities, and I’m excited to see where the next ten years take us!
Celebrating our 10 Year Anniversary in our new Dallas offices
In addition to marking our 10-year anniversary, we also celebrated moving to our new office in Downtown Dallas at Radiance Plaza this summer. We absolutely could not have done all of this alone. Thank you to all our clients, collaborators, and friends who joined us for an anniversary celebration and the many others who have been our close partners over the last 10 years. We are looking forward to many more decades serving Texas!
Check out the images from our celebration!
