on Aug 25, 2014
HR&A Los Angeles Kicks-off Involvement in the LA River Revitalization Effort in Kayaks!
HR&A is honored to be a part of the revitalization of the Los Angeles River. This summer, we kicked-off a project for the Los Angeles River Revitalization Corporation (LARRC) that will help to assess the implementation opportunities for what is clearly one of the most exciting open space projects in the country. The United States Army Corps of Engineers recently recommended the approval of a $1.08 billion revitalization plan along 11 miles of the 51-mile river, propelling the project into the spotlight and establishing it at the forefront of Mayor Garcetti’s agenda. To get a first-hand feel for the emerging possibilities, HR&A’s Los Angeles office spent an afternoon kayaking down a two-mile stretch of the LA River where significant revitalization and naturalization is planned. HR&A staff learned from LA River Kayaks and Maria Camacho at LARRC about the water channeled in the river, native plants and wildlife, as well as potential sites for further programming and development.
Beginning in July 2014, on behalf of the LA River Revitalization Corporation, HR&A will lead a series of one-on-one meeting and workshops convening key leaders and stakeholders in order to help assess the opportunities and challenges for implementation of the LA River’s planned transformation. Based on these workshops, HR&A will recommend strategic next steps for structuring an entity or entities to fund, implement, and operate this major open space investment.
This project will be led by HR&A’s Vice Chairman Candace Damon who brings over 30 years of open space experience to the project. HR&A’s experience with open-space investment planning related to urban waterways includes, among many other projects: Brooklyn Bridge Park in NYC, Waterfront Toronto in Canada, the Great River Passage in the Twin Cities, and plans for the Seattle Waterfront in Washington.
The Los Angeles office of HR&A is excited to continue supporting economic development and public policy goals in California and nationally. We are currently involved in several public interest projects throughout the Los Angeles region including the renovation of the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium as the anchor for a new mixed-use cultural campus, as well as the economics of a proposed freeway cap park in Glendale.