What does it take to transform fragmented municipal land use data into a unified, statewide planning framework?

On behalf of the Rhode Island Division of Statewide Planning (RIDSP), HR&A Advisors partnered with Go Consulting Services to advance the Land Use 2050 Data Services project — a critical step in preparing Rhode Island for growth, conservation, and infrastructure needs through 2050 and beyond.

The project’s primary objective was to update and standardize Geographic Information System (GIS) data for zoning, current land use (CLU), and future land use (FLUM) across all 39 municipalities and to understand how land uses had changed over time to inform future policymaking. While Rhode Island is geographically small, its municipal data systems vary widely in format, quality, and accessibility. For the State to analyze trends consistently and plan effectively, these datasets needed to be assembled, cleaned, aligned, and standardized into a coherent whole.

Phase 1: Data Collection and Standardization

The first phase focused on collecting and quality-checking municipal datasets and transforming them into a consistent statewide composite. The team engaged all 39 municipalities, as well as the Narragansett Indian Tribe, through office hours, direct outreach, and one-on-one coordination.

The data collection process surfaced several challenges:

• Municipal data is often fragmented across planning, IT, and assessor departments.
• Building permit data is not yet fully standardized or accessible statewide through OpenGov.
• Only a subset of municipalities provided digital Future Land Use Maps (FLUMs), requiring selective digitization of recently adopted comprehensive plans.
• Zoning datasets varied significantly in coding conventions, symbology, and completeness.

To address these hurdles, the team developed zoning and land use crosswalks to align local coding systems with statewide categories, manually resolved inconsistencies where necessary, and clearly documented metadata and data sources. The result is a reproducible ArcGIS Pro process that converts disparate local inputs into standardized datasets suitable for policy analysis and visualization, while preserving important municipal nuances.

Phase 2: Analysis and Scenario Planning

Building on this foundation, Phase 2 analyzed land use changes over the past 25 years and introduced preliminary scenario planning to evaluate land availability and suitability for future growth and conservation. The analysis provided insight into development trends, growth patterns, and policy implications at both the municipal and statewide scale.

Between 2011 – 2020, the Rhode Island’s Urban Services Boundary experienced added over 2,500 acres of residential land, overlapping much of this growth within a ½ mile of public transit. However, conservation and agricultural lands have steadily declined under residential development pressure, with residential growth clustering near conservation areas, highlighting their amenity value as open space and recreation areas. Similarly, almost 420 acres of new residential land were built in 100-year flood zones – an ongoing conflict with Rhode Island’s climate resilience goals.

As Rhode Island prepares for its next land use plan and other policy and planning efforts, it can use opportunities for redevelopment and growth within the Urban Services Boundary and transit-accessible areas, while balancing alongside conservation of sensitive lands and mitigating risk in areas vulnerable to flooding and sea level rise. Some of the key land use suitability findings highlight the following:

1. Future residential development should be concentrated in areas of the Urban Services Boundary with strong access to public transportation.
2. Much of the rural land designated for residential use has not been developed, leaving opportunities for conservation and more efficient land use in the future
3. Areas at risk for future flooding and sea level rise should not be developed, but can still support Rhode Island’s conservation efforts and growing blue economy industries.
4. Commercial and industrial zoned areas often contain a variety of other uses, suggesting opportunities to create new mixed-use areas and enable infill development.

Our analysis sets the stage for the State to align on its policy and planning efforts related to housing affordability, economic development, transit accessibility, resiliency, and infrastructure priorities.

Interactive Story Map

To make the data and findings accessible, the project also includes an interactive StoryMap. This webtool allows users to explore land use patterns, data sources, and planning considerations in a visual, intuitive format — strengthening transparency and engagement across stakeholders.

All the data collected and generated under this effort is all publicly available for use by municipalities, state departments, other local and state agencies, as well as other stakeholders such as community groups and academics, supporting data transparency and collaborations across the state.

Together, these tools equip Rhode Island with a consistent, scalable framework to inform land use policy, infrastructure investment, and conservation strategy through 2050. By visualizing cities and towns as interconnected components of a single system, the State is positioning to plan for sustainable growth in a coordinated, data-driven way.

This milestone marks an important step toward ensuring that Rhode Island’s planning decisions are grounded in reliable data, aligned across jurisdictions, and responsive to long-term community needs.

HR&A is excited to welcome Drex Owusu to our Board of Directors. Drex is a dynamic leader at the intersection of education, economic development, and civic engagement. His experience aligns with HR&A’s continued growth in Texas and our efforts to deepen the firm’s leadership and impact. Drex’s career reflects a consistent commitment to catalyzing economic opportunity and community development across public, private, and philanthropic sectors.  

As Chief Learning Officer at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, Drex oversees the museum’s educational and community outreach mission to inspire minds in North Texas through nature and science. He leads a team of nearly 50 educators and professionals serving over 260,000 students and 1 million guests annually. 

Prior to joining the Perot Museum, Drex served as Chief Impact Officer at The Dallas Foundation, overseeing the Foundation’s grantmaking, community engagement, and civic leadership. He led efforts addressing the Foundation’s community impact priorities. He worked closely with philanthropic, nonprofit, and civic leaders across Dallas and collaborated with the Foundation’s donor partners to advise or direct over $70 million in annual community philanthropy. 

He previously served as Senior Vice President of Education & Workforce at the Dallas Regional Chamber, leading the organization’s efforts to equitably grow and develop the regional education and workforce pipeline. Before that, he founded and served as CEO of Brave Capital Partners, an investment company focused on catalyzing minority communities. Drex also previously served as Managing Director and Chief of Staff at Civitas Capital Group, a private real estate investment firm, where he led the establishment of the GrowSouth Fund to invest in southern Dallas. His career has also included corporate leadership and strategy roles at FedEx Office and Accenture. 

Drex serves on additional boards, including Groundwork Outreach, the Dallas Development Fund, Better Block, Dallas Housing Coalition, Education is Freedom, Impact Ventures, the SMU Simmons School of Education and Human Performance, Trust for Public Land – Texas, United to Learn, and Year Up Texas. He also chairs the Dallas ISD Bond Oversight Committee, overseeing a $3.5 billion capital investment in the district. 

This op-ed was originally published by Black Enterprise and authored by Senior Advisor Derek Fleming.

Land values around many campuses are climbing faster than HBCUs can capitalize on them.

My first visit to a Historically Black College or University was to Howard University during its famous homecoming celebrations. I was visiting as a student from UC Berkeley, newly initiated into my fraternity, and I was immediately embraced by my brothers at Howard.

What stayed with me wasn’t just the warmth of that welcome. It was the feeling of intellectual power. The ambition, pride, and collective confidence on the yard were undeniable. At 20 years old, I realized HBCUs offered much more than education; they were places where culture became capital. That understanding has only deepened with time.

HBCUs were founded through land in much the same way. Many of the most well-known HBCUs were originally established as land-grant institutions. The value and control of these land holdings have been critical to the stability and growth of those institutions throughout their history. We must continue to build on this legacy.

One practical way forward is to resource HBCUs to take the first and most critical step in the development process: understanding the true potential of their land. Before any partnership can form, universities need rigorous feasibility and highest-and-best-use studies that clarify what their land can support, how it can advance institutional mission, and what forms of development would protect long-term community and cultural interests. These studies allow HBCUs to come to the table as informed principals rather than reactive landholders.

This is where philanthropy can play a catalytic role. If foundations and mission-driven institutions underwrote these feasibility studies through targeted grants, they could unlock a national pipeline of HBCU-led development. A relatively modest investment in planning would reduce risk for future projects, attracting aligned development partners and positioning universities to negotiate from a stronger position.

HBCUs are among the last major Black-controlled landowners in many American cities. When developed intentionally, campus real estate can strengthen financial sustainability, protect surrounding Black communities from displacement, and create pathways for Black ownership, entrepreneurship, and wealth creation. When it is not, it risks becoming another extraction point in a long history of inequitable development.

HR&A is proud to support the work of the Fair Futures Housing Design Fellows, who have collectively lived in dozens of difficult housing situations while in foster care and in the years after, and whom we helped create a roadmap to ending the foster care to homelessness pipeline in NYC last year. In a recent interview with Invisible People, Partner Sarah Solon, along with the Fair Futures Fellows, described the drivers of this pipeline and the actionable steps we can take to begin dismantling it. 

The Scale of the Crisis 

National research has shown that 31 – 46% of transition-age foster youth experience homelessness before they turn 26.

As Sarah emphasized in the interview, the primary issue is the broader affordable housing crisis. “No state or major city has more than 60 affordable homes for every 100 households that need them. Los Angeles and New York City each face shortages of nearly 500,000 affordable homes.”  

Without enough affordable housing, it follows that hundreds of thousands of people are pushed into housing insecurity and homelessness. For young people aging out of foster care, they must navigate incredible competition for the few affordable homes that do exist — often without a safety net or a network of adults to help them. 

Federal Funding is Available 

While many local governments are facing reductions in federal, state, and local funding for homelessness and affordable housing, there’s one critical exception: federal voucher funding for young people aging out of foster care has been protected under HUD’s FY26 budget. 

Every public housing authority is entitled to request 50 Foster Youth to Independence (FYI) vouchers, yet many cities and states are leaving this funding on the table. Those who can demonstrate effective use of these initial vouchers can apply for more, bringing additional federal rent money into their communities to benefit young people, landlords, and affordable housing developers. 

A Model from Austin 

The City of Austin and Travis County are taking action. With more than half of young people experiencing homelessness in the city having a history of child welfare involvement, HR&A supported Austin Homeless Strategies and Operations and LifeWorks to convene partners across government, nonprofits, housing authorities, and advocacy organizations. Together, they committed to 10 clear steps to dismantle the foster care to homelessness pipeline—a model that could be replicated nationwide. 

Key strategies include maximizing federal FYI vouchers, making it easier for young people to access vacant homes through partnerships like Housing Connector, and creating trusted community hubs to help youth navigate housing resources. 

Quality Matters as Much as Quantity 

The article elevated the voices and research of the Fair Futures Housing Design Fellows, who created detailed quality standards for housing for youth exiting foster care.  Sarah echoed one of the key takeaways from their stories: “Young people don’t just need more  housing; they need better housing.” 

The foster care-to-homelessness pipeline is not inevitable. With protected federal funding, local action, and a commitment to both quantity and quality, we have the tools to disrupt the cycle and ensure every young person transitioning out of foster care can access a quality, affordable home. 

Read the full Invisible People article here. 

Parks, walkability, and resilience aren’t just design features — they’re competitive advantages.

In a two-part conversation hosted by the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), HR&A’s Jill Schmidt Bengochea and Gail Hankin joined national leaders, Torey Carter-Conneen (American Society of Landscape Architects), Jacob Bennett (LandDesign), and Bob Gibbs (Gibbs Planning Group), to discuss how nature-based solutions translate into measurable real estate value.

Drawing on HR&A’s research with the Trust for Public Land and examples like Klyde Warren Park and the High Line, the discussion highlighted how parks and green infrastructure can drive leasing velocity, justify rent premiums, support job growth, and strengthen long-term asset performance.

Read both parts of the ASLA discussion to learn about Jill and Gail’s perspective on how environmental and social benefits, when framed in economic terms, help projects move forward — and outperform.

Read Part 1 here.

Read Part 2 here.

Last month, HR&A Advisors was in İzmir, Türkiye to lead Workshop 1 of the İzmir Metro Project III: Corporate Development Programme (CDP) + Land Value Capture (LVC) Study. This workshop marked a major milestone, closing the inception phase and launching the project’s diagnostic and analytical work over the next 12 months.

About the Project 

The work is funded by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) on behalf of İzmir Büyükşehir Belediyesi and İzmir Metro A.Ş. HR&A delivered this workshop in coordination with consortium partner MC Mobility Consultants and local support teams Needs Map Global and VALORISE. Subconsultants WRI Türkiye and Policy Analytics Lab joined for relevant LVC workstream sessions. 

Workshop Overview 

The 3-day workshop began with site visits to potential areas for urban regeneration around İzmir’s major transfer hubs and along the EBRD-financed Buca-Üçyol metro line. Site visits were followed by technical sessions for the CDP and LVC workstreams over the next two days. 

As consortium leader, HR&A leads the LVC workstream together with Needs Map Global, building on our earlier LVC study with the EBRD for Ankara Metropolitan Municipality. 

Land Value Capture Focus 

During Workshop 1, LVC technical sessions explored how İzmir can strengthen the connection between transit investment, citywide planning, and urban regeneration to unlock land value—and how that value can be translated into sustainable funding sources for future metro investments. If the public sector remains passive, this value accrues entirely to private landowners and developers as windfall profit, leaving taxpayers to shoulder infrastructure costs. 

We grounded this discussion in İzmir’s current conditions and the set of tools and enabling steps that can realistically be advanced in Türkiye’s institutional and market context. 

Corporate Development Programme 

In parallel, CDP sessions delivered by MC Mobility Consultants and VALORISE advanced shared priorities around operational performance, asset governance, and long-term financial sustainability, establishing the foundation for the project’s improvement roadmap. 

HR&A is proud to support the EBRD and İzmir counterparts in their work to improve urban transit and regeneration for İzmir’s residents. Special thanks to İzmir Büyükşehir Belediyesi, İzmir Metro A.Ş., and İzmir Planlama Ajansı for their hospitality, active engagement, and commitment to making this workshop a success. 

HR&A Advisors conducted a comprehensive economic impact analysis for the Building Trades Employers’ Association (BTEA) examining how New York’s absolute liability insurance standard affects construction costs across the state. Drawing on proprietary data from 32 sources including leading developers, general contractors, and public agencies such as the MTA and NYC School Construction Authority, the analysis compared insurance premiums in New York to peer states including New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Illinois. The study found that insurance premiums in New York are 200% to 500% higher than comparable states, representing 6% to 8% of development budgets compared to 2% to 4% in neighboring states. The analysis modeled potential cost savings on major projects including Penn Station redevelopment and Second Avenue Subway Phase 2, and examined the impact of current insurance costs on affordable housing development, small contractors and MWBEs, and infrastructure investments across New York.

Related Press

“New York’s scaffold Law tax draining ‘billions’ from MTA, other public projects: new report” — AMNY

“Scaffold Law report: Insurance costs skyrocket up to 500% in NYS because of controversial law” — Newsday

We sat down with Partner Erin Lonoff to discuss why housing affordability is driving Midwest growth, the role of millennials in the future of mission-driven real estate, and her path from Intern to Partner at HR&A. Erin also shares how her diverse work focusing on the intersection of real estate and public policy helps her anticipate what’s next for cities and communities across the country.

What new opportunities are you most excited to take on in this next chapter as a Partner?

Over the past 12 years, I’ve worked with cities and states across the country to deliver economic development and real estate solutions. In this new role, I’m excited to help Midwestern cities leverage innovations from across the country and tailor them to the unique economics, real estate dynamics, and local community goals here. There’s incredible ingenuity happening in the Midwest that other regions can benefit from. The Twin Cities, in particular is currently and has been the epicenter for cultural movements in recent years, but what doesn’t get as much press are the policy innovations that have been shaping outcomes in this region for decades and that offer key lessons for other regions across the country. For example, the Twin Cities region is one of the few metros in the entire country that has taxing authority. They also consistently rank high for their parks systems and affordability. The Midwest broadly is also ahead of the curve on issues like leveraging manufactured housing solutions to speed up production and lower building costs as well as forward-thinking solutions to population decline.

What trends or changes have you seen in your work over the last few years?

We’re at a pivotal moment in cities where we have a generational transfer of land ownership and leadership that’s already starting to shake up the status quo. We have a new generation of millennials taking the reins and becoming land stewards in our cities. As I’ve written about previously, the way that urban millennials see their world outlook, based on how they were raised, is really going to shape how we see our cities get developed. I think that’s one of the biggest trends we’re going to be seeing.

Cities are getting ready to think about their land differently. My optimism comes from believing that with fresh faces and diverse perspectives, real estate is going to have a bigger mission and public policy alignment, and create greater impacts and benefits for our communities.

Midwest cities have infrastructure and often housing stock—all the things you need for living—and the cost is just much lower. This is why I think we’re going to continue to see people moving to and choosing to live in cities like these, and that will come with its own set of opportunities and challenges. While there are unifying themes across the region that are distinct from coastal counterparts, there’s also tremendous variation across the Midwest. There won’t be a one-size-fits-all solution, but that’s an exciting challenge.

Can you describe your practice and the types of projects you work on?

What keeps me energized is seeing the impact of my work come to life as built reality. I worked on the early funding strategies for parks that I take my kids to now. Discovery Square in Rochester is one of my favorite projects—two innovation buildings I worked on back in 2016 that are now operating full-time and viewed as a successful model for other innovation districts. Being part of the visioning stage and then seeing these projects exist in the world, serving communities for years to come, is incredibly rewarding.

What I’ve also really enjoyed about my career so far is that I work with all kinds of communities. I think it’s so important to work across the urban-rural spectrum and understand what’s actually driving growth in different contexts. Take HR&A’s Southeast Minnesota Regional Impact Study, for example. It’s an eight-county region with Rochester at its heart and very rural farmland surrounding it. We found that the regional economies of many of these rural areas are being driven by vitally important immigrant communities who are helping to curb population decline and sustain the workforce. I’ve also worked on the municipal side, leading Saint Paul’s citywide anti-displacement strategy to ensure development outcomes that will benefit all of the city’s residents.

Years ago, you joined HR&A as an Intern, and now you’re stepping into this new Partner role as HR&A marks its 50-year anniversary. What do you think makes this company unique, and what’s in store over the next 50 years?

It’s rare to find a company with this much female leadership and mentorship. In a male-dominated industry like real estate, it’s been incredible to work alongside and learn from women who are leaders and experts. I think that’s directly connected to where our company and this industry are headed. We’re about to see a monumental shift in how real estate gets done and who’s doing it—with more emphasis on emerging and BIPOC developers and women-owned businesses. Our staff composition already reflects that future and the creativity that comes with this. I think HR&A is uniquely positioned to work with this next generation of real estate leaders who are going to shape the industry.

Learn more about Erin here.