HR&A delivered a market and development study to city leadership outlining ways to attract new business and to expand existing specialized business in Mount Vernon, NY. Mount Vernon, located in Southern Westchester County on the border of the Bronx, is one the most densely populated cities in the nation. The city has a strong mix of residential offerings but its commercial core has suffered in the past few years from weak national and local economic conditions.

The Mount Vernon Market and Development Study analyzed demographic, physical and social attributes city-wide, as well as retail spending potential and leaking. HR&A’s work provided a series of recommendations for the City to capitalize on its strengths including establishing a framework for supporting new development near its transportation assets; encouraging new retail businesses along key corridors; and establishing both a Downtown Business Improvement District and an Office of Economic Development.

HR&A prepared the Mount Vernon Market and Development Study for the New York State Department of State with funds provided under Title 3 of the Environmental Protection Fund. The public release of the study was covered in Westchester.com. The full work product is available here.

HR&A recently completed an Action Plan for the Delmar Loop area in St. Louis. Commissioned by Washington University and the East and West Loop Special Business Districts, the Action Plan includes a retail and development strategy for the retail, entertainment and cultural corridor which serves as the “campus main street” for the University.

In 2010, commitment of funding for a new trolley system that would connect the Delmar Loop with Saint Louis’ Forest Park provided the impetus to create a new trajectory for the area’s future. This will ensure its continued vibrancy as a unique amenity for Washington University students as well as residents and visitors. An additional goal of the study was to examine ways to enhance retail offerings and encourage private-sector investment in those areas of the Loop that lack shops and services. HR&A’s comprehensive strategy includes recommendations for retail tenanting, real estate development, public realm improvements, infrastructure investments, governance, and implementation.

The Action Plan for Delmar Loop can be found here.

HR&A is thrilled to welcome Stockton Williams as a Principal in our Washington, D.C. office. Stockton is a leading expert in the intersection of environmental policy and urban development and will support HR&A’s innovative practice in this area.

Until recently, Stockton served as a Senior Advisor in Urban Policy at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), where he developed strategies to expand clean energy and energy efficiency opportunities in metropolitan regions, represented DOE on urban policy issues at the White House, and collaborated on sustainability policy with multiple federal agencies. He has also held senior leadership positions at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Living Cities and Enterprise Community Partners.

Stockton has written and spoken widely on the subject of sustainable development and served on the boards of several real estate, housing, and energy organizations, including the Urban Land Institute Advisory Group on Climate Change, Land Use & Energy.

For over thirty years, HR&A has provided strategic advisory services for some of the most complex mixed-use, neighborhood, campus, and regional development projects across North America and abroad. With Stockton joining the firm, we have increased our capacity to provide our clients with advisory services for clean energy, sustainable communities, and affordable housing finance.

Image courtesy of Steven Winter Associates.

On January 11th, the Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation and Living Cities released a new study, “Recognizing the Benefits of Energy Efficiency in Multifamily Underwriting,” which lays the groundwork for a new means of financing energy efficiency retrofits. Authored by HR&A and Steven Winter Associates, the study examined a uniquely large and comprehensive multifamily dataset. Rigorous analysis produced a data-driven approach by which underwriters can benchmark auditors’ energy savings estimates and include such projections in their underwriting models in a way that greatly mitigates risk across a portfolio. The innovative approach would allow for larger loans to multifamily owners, increasing the availability of capital to unlock billions of dollars of energy savings potential in the nation’s multifamily building stock.

The study examined energy use before and after retrofits, as well as auditors’ savings projections, across an unprecedented dataset of 231 buildings, totaling more than 21,000 units of affordable housing in New York City. The report is available on the Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation website.

Living Cities provided a grant to the New York City Energy Efficiency Corporation (NYCEEC) to create a mortgage enhancement product that will allow multifamily lenders to underwrite loans inclusive of cash flows from projected energy efficiency savings. HR&A will serve as a key advisor to NYCEEC in the development of this new product.

This study is an example of HR&A’s core value-add for our energy efficiency clients: a deep knowledge of real estate development finance, rigorous analysis informed by partnership with a premier building science firm, and the ability to translate this multidisciplinary knowledge into transformative and practical policy recommendations.

On Friday, December 2nd, the Ramsey County Regional Rail Authority (RCRRA) issued three solicitations seeking private partners to activate the newly restored Union Depot in Saint Paul, MN. These include:

• Request for Qualifications for the activation and development of the site through retail, cultural, and event programming;
• Request for Proposals for day-to-day property management services, including building operations and maintenance; and
• Request for Proposals for operations of a state-of-the-art Bicycle Center.

HR&A is pleased to have supported RCRRA in defining a vision for restoration of St. Paul’s historic Union Depot into the Midwest’s premier multimodal transit hub. According to HR&A President Eric Rothman, “Union Depot will be one of the nation’s great transit hubs and an exceptional opportunity for transit-oriented development.” Situated in historic Lowertown, the activation of Union Depot will promote the neighborhood’s character of fresh food, fresh art and fresh culture.

Union Depot is expected to serve nearly 1 million transit riders by 2014 and 4 million riders per year in the decades to come. It will be the Twin Cities’ hub for Amtrak trains from Chicago and Seattle; local and intercity buses; and the Central Corridor Light Rail to downtown Minneapolis; and a potential station or terminus for several other transitways planned in the region. All three solicitation documents, as well as news and updates related to the Union Depot, are available on RCRRA’s blog.