HR&A is proud to participate in the annual Greenbuild International Conference in Washington DC in November 2015. Greenbuild is the world’s largest conference dedicated to green building and sustainability where thousands of industry leaders come together to exchange ideas. HR&A Vice Chairman Candace Damon and Senior Principal Jamie Torres Springer, will both participate in panel discussions at this year’s conference.

On November 18th, Vice Chairman Candace Damon will discuss implementation of green stormwater systems with Craig Holland, Director of Product Development at NatureVest, the impact investment unit of The Nature Conservancy, and Mikel Wilkins, Green Infrastructure Practice Leader at Verdunity. The panel, titled Implementing District Scale Recreational Stormwater Systems, will investigate the economic, logistical, institutional, and cultural frameworks of green infrastructure implementation. The panelists will discuss hurdles, which prevent widespread implementation and successful employment of innovative strategies. The speakers will draw on past HR&A work including economic assessments of a district stormwater system within the proposed Southwest EcoDistrict in Washington DC, proposed changes to the City of Detroit’s stormwater policies, and green infrastructure retrofits within Dallas’s park system.

On November 20th, Senior Principal Jamie Torres Springer will discuss Superstorm Sandy recovery with Kate Dineen, Deputy Executive Director at the New York State Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery (GOSR), and Danielle Arigoni, Acting Director, Office of Economic Resilience, U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development. The panel, titled From Recovery to Resiliency, will explore the various approaches undertaken in the Northeast following Superstorm Sandy to create enduring strategies and plans for resilience. Topics will include: initial steps to rebound post-storm; techniques for establishing a long-term focus on preparing for and protecting against impacts of climate change; development of responses spanning critical infrastructure areas and built environment typologies; provision of rebuilding and revitalization assistance; and collaboration with community members and local leaders. Case studies will draw upon various resilience efforts in the northeast, of which HR&A has been involved, starting with Jamie’s post as Deputy Director of City’s Special Initiative for Rebuilding and Resiliency (SIRR), our work in ten communities in NYC for the State’s NY Rising Community Reconstruction Program, and significant participation on three teams of HUD’s RBD Competition.

HR&A is a proud supporter of the United Stated Green Building Council and we look forward to engaging with attendees at this year’s Conference. Please reach out to Jamie Torres Springer or Candace Damon if you plan on attending – we would love to connect.

Jamie discusses considerations involved to achieve a new Penn Station with Vishaan Chakrabarti of Partnership for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU), and Kate Ascher of BuroHappold. Image courtesy of MAS/Giles Ashford.

On Thursday, October 22, HR&A Senior Principal Jamie Torres Springer joined Kate Ascher, Partner at BuroHappold, and Vishaan Chakrabarti, Founder and CEO of the Partnership for Architecture and Urbanism, for a session at the two-day 2015 MAS Summit for New York City at the TimesCenter. Vishaan moderated the discussion, “Getting a New Penn and Gateway Build: Rails, Regs, and Resources,” with questions for Jamie and Kate about reimagining Midtown West—namely by rebuilding Penn Station and strengthening regional transit access. The speakers recognized the difficulty presented by the multiplicity of ownership rights and underscored the necessity of convening different political players to reach consensus on funding and placemaking and of representing competing stakeholder interests. The session addressed the potential benefits of an upgraded Penn Station area in relation to both the City’s brand and wider-reaching neighborhood- and district-level impacts, including expanded regional transit capacity.

With these benefits in mind, Jamie discussed the value capture made possible by higher rents and additional taxes accompanying from existing and new development stimulated by district infrastructure improvements. He deemed Midtown West, which currently underperforms relative to other Manhattan districts, a neighborhood with room for significant economic growth. Jamie referenced ongoing transit-oriented redevelopment in the U.S. and Canada to demonstrate the centrality of government as a funding source, comprising more than half of capital funds in most cases. The session, available for viewing courtesy of MAS, reflected one of the Summit’s priority discussion topics: grappling with possibilities for the future of Midtown West.

HR&A Senior Analyst, Theresa Cassano participated in a panel discussion entitled “Trending Topic Workshop: Disaster Resiliency” on Friday, November 6th hosted by the Council for Development Agencies. Over the past decade, extreme weather events have caused major catastrophes to cities large and small. From vulnerable energy grids to aging infrastructure, communities are susceptible to disasters in multiple ways, and the aftermath of the clean-up and redevelopment can affect a region for years. Theresa provided valuable insight as the panel explored financing programs and mechanisms for disaster resiliency, partnerships and collaborative efforts and identified financing solutions, and lessons learned from communities that are in the rebuilding process.

As a key member of HR&A’s resiliency and housing practices, Theresa drew upon her experience working on behalf of The Rockefeller Foundation where she was an integral part of the program team that implemented a Capacity Building Initiative to support the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s National Disaster Resilience Competition. Theresa assisted in the management of direct technical assistance to aid applicants in development of strategy and project proposals and supported the delivery of seven resilience academies across the county.

HR&A works with public, private, and nonprofit leaders to address physical, social, and economic resiliency with a focus on implementable solutions. HR&A Advisors has extensive experience in resiliency planning, including leadership of the planning process in eight NY Rising Community Reconstruction Program communities on behalf of New York State, and through participation in the innovative HUD Rebuild by Design Competition. We have provided key economic framework guidance for resiliency efforts and a public-private approach to implementation that draws on project value for funding. In the months and years ahead, HR&A is committed to working with partners across all sectors to learn from our common experiences and to design and implement strategies that promote resiliency in urban places over the long-term.

Whether we are crafting funding strategies for urban parks or developing resilience plans for coastal cities, HR&A works with a wide range of clients and communities to provide implementable solutions that protect and enhance the built environment. This November, Vice-Chairman Candace Damon and Senior Principal Jamie Torres Springer will moderate panels at the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) 2015 Annual Conference in Chicago, where they will discuss these topics with diverse groups of panelists.

On Sunday, November 8th Jamie Torres Springer will moderate a panel titled: Landscape Architecture and Design Post-Sandy: New Paradigms of Resilience. This panel will be comprised of planners and landscape architects who will discuss principles of landscape design and planning as they relate to disaster recovery and resilience. Jamie leads HR&A’s resilience practice and specializes in creative planning, financing, and implementation strategies supporting urban growth and revitalization.

On Monday, November 9th Candace Damon will moderate a panel titled: Public Parks and Private Partners: United they Stand?. She will be joined by park operators, consultants, and advocates to explore and debate the P3 role in park funding, policy, and operations, and what the implications are for designers. Candace is a leader in the creation of sustainable urban redevelopment strategies for cities across North America and spearheads HR&A’s Parks and Open Space practice.

We look forward to sharing lessons from our projects and hope to foster a lively discussion among ASLA attendees. We hope that you can join us!

In October, the City of Norfolk released its 100 Resilient Cities resilience strategy, which will transform Norfolk through initiatives to make the coastal city more prepared for climate change, create economic opportunity in new and growing sectors, and strengthen communities and neighborhoods while deconcentrating poverty. The strategy breaks the mold of traditional planning efforts, aligning actions and investments by 75 partners from the private, public, and non-profit sector. The Virginia Pilot covered the release.

HR&A proudly supported the City with project management and economic analysis as it prepared its strategy. We have assisted the first three cities in the 100 Resilient Cities’ network to complete plans – Norfolk, New York City and New Orleans – and are working with six other cities – Boston, Boulder, El Paso, Los Angeles, Tulsa and St. Louis – on their strategies.

The strategy is a milestone in Norfolk’s work with 100RC, a global initiative pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation to help cities develop comprehensive, actionable strategies to become more resilient in the face of current and future social, economic, and physical risks and challenges.

HR&A is proud to announce our selection as lead consultant for Imagine Boston 2030, the comprehensive plan that will define a vision for the future of Boston leading up to its 400th birthday. HR&A will lead an interdisciplinary team of planners, designers and engagement experts, including planning and design partner Utile Architecture + Planning, to develop and deliver Boston’s first citywide plan in 50 years.

“A successful civic engagement component for Imagine Boston 2030 is critical to creating a future for the City that incorporates all of our residents. HR&A and Utile appreciate the diversity of Boston’s people and their viewpoints, and they will help us build a stronger city that’s grounded by ideas from the people of Boston.”

–Mayor Martin J. Walsh

 

Imagine Boston 2030 will provide opportunities for residents to inform and shape citywide conversations about quality of life, and develop implementable ideas to address the city’s biggest issues. A team of community engagement experts will ensure proactive involvement from diverse constituents through a variety of innovative community engagement channels, ranging from social media and mobile polling to in-person conversations convened and led by local organizations.

Guided by feedback from residents and City staff, HR&A and its strategic planning partners will develop a vision plan with goals for the future of Boston’s positive physical change, shared prosperity, coordinated public investment, and a healthy environment and population. The team will work with residents and the City to develop implementable, placed-based initiatives, including identifying timelines, targets and funding sources for attainment of plan goals through 2030 and beyond.

HR&A is honored to help plan the future of one of America’s most well-loved cities, and we’re ready to imagine the possibilities of Boston in 2030. Follow Imagine Boston on Twitter @ImagineBos, Instagram, Facebook and our blog.