In response to input from residents, affordable housing advocates and developers, the City of New Haven engaged HR&A to develop an inclusionary zoning policy that ensures long-term affordability, inclusive growth, and thriving neighborhoods. Over 50 affordable homes have been approved since the ordinance’s approval in 2022.  

HR&A reviewed existing real estate market conditions, assessed potential incentive tools, and engaged key public and private sector stakeholders across neighborhoods to understand the housing landscape throughout New Haven. This informed our financial pro forma analyses to evaluate development scenarios for a range of building typologies and submarkets.  

Our analysis measured the impact of an Inclusionary Zoning policy at different levels of housing affordability and assessed various land use and financial incentives that could maximize affordable housing production. Based on these findings, HR&A created an inclusionary policy for New Haven that balances housing policy priorities by targeting inclusionary requirements to align with local market strength, and we assisted the City in developing a framework and manual for implementation and administration of the policy.   

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Ordinance and map 

Press 

“Inclusionary” Housing Law Passes — New Haven Independent 

City officials and advocates reflect on two terms of Elicker’s housing policy — Yale News  

Since 2020, HR&A has supported Con Edison’s strategy for incentivizing building decarbonization throughout New York City and Westchester County. Leveraging our deep experience in New York City real estate and our quantitative modeling capabilities, we are helping Con Edison achieve the ambitious goals of New York State’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), which commits the State to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 85% by 2050.

The CLCPA, called “one of the world’s most ambitious climate plans” by the New York Times, also mandates that at least 35% of the benefits of clean energy and energy efficiency investments go to disadvantaged communities. Investor-owned utilities like Con Edison are key partners in CLCPA implementation, deploying incentive dollars to encourage building owners to eliminate the use of on-site fossil fuels and invest in energy efficiency. Combining our in-depth knowledge of New York City real estate and housing regulations with our sophisticated quantitative modeling skills, HR&A has helped Con Edison better understand the barriers and motivations of different types of building owners and more efficiently deliver energy savings and greenhouse gas reductions. We approached this work through an equity lens, focusing on the unique challenges facing buildings that serve low- and moderate-income (LMI) households.
HR&A’s support for Con Edison’s decarbonization programs has included several components:

• • • LMI Program Tactical Support: analyzing the market size, geographic distribution, and physical characteristics of the LMI housing market; matching buildings to promising energy efficiency measures; and introducing Con Edison to the owners of several of the largest LMI portfolios. 
    • LMI Program 10-year Strategy: developing a long-term strategy to meet the State’s decarbonization goals, expand Con Edison’s sales efforts, standardize its offerings, and create new financing options in partnership with LMI housing lenders to provide energy savings for tens of thousands of LMI buildings. 
    • LMI Electrification Model: understanding the financial impact of building electrification through development of individual building pro-forma based on market segmentation to measure the changes in net operating income (NOI), tenant and owner utility costs, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions due to electrification; and estimating the scale of subsidies necessary to achieve full building electrification while mitigating potential cost shifts to tenants. 
    • Building Envelope Upgrade Market Study: strategizing on increasing the volume of energy-efficient building envelope upgrades measures through development of a quantitative model of the energy, greenhouse gas, and financial impacts of envelope upgrades across an array of building typologies; engaging in a series of targeted interviews and focus groups to understand motivations and barriers around envelope improvements; and issuing a set of strategic recommendations for how Con Ed can incentivize more investment in envelope upgrades within the marketplace. 
    • Multifamily Program Marketing and Outreach Strategy: developing an actionable marketing strategy to increase uptake of Con Edison’s decarbonization incentives through tailored messaging strategy based on market segmentation, improving the recruitment and retention of contractors, and participating in Con Edison’ multifamily incentive program.  

  HR&A’s work has helped Con Edison set interim targets for its building energy efficiency program and develop program requirements to spearhead the clean energy transition. In 2023 alone, Con Edison deployed $263 million dollars in decarbonization incentives, half of which was in State-designated Disadvantaged Communities. HR&A’s analysis for Con Edison shows that building electrification and energy efficiency investments, especially in the LMI multifamily housing sector, can have a tremendous impact on reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and set Con Edison on a path to achieve the State’s decarbonization targets. 

To accelerate New York City’s equitable clean energy transition, HR&A has been helping the Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice (MOCEJ) and the Office of the Comptroller to assess the feasibility of Public Solar NYC (PSNYC) — NYC’s first public solar program targeted to Low-to-Moderate Income residents. The City’s new solar program has already secured $250 million in federal funding and will contribute to a more climate-resilient and equitable NYC.

While New York City’s density and building stock present specific challenges to solar installations, the main obstacles are driven by the complex relationships between real estate economics, legal frameworks and relationships, regulations and codes, and energy economics that are often uncertain. This problem is especially heightened in low- to moderate-income communities, where homeowners lack resources to access clean energy transition incentives. HR&A is leading a phased effort with the City to understand and quantify these barriers, design a program with tailored solutions, successfully apply for the Solar for All funding, and create an implementation plan for NYC’s transformative new solar program.

For the first phase of the project, HR&A led a multidisciplinary team to analyze operational, financial, and legal feasibility for solar implementation. HR&A supplemented the analysis with stakeholder interviews to understand challenges and opportunities to streamline solar installation process for customers, conducted a market analysis of the NYC building stock to prioritize neighborhoods for targeted outreach. On Earth Day 2023, NYC Mayor Eric Adams released PlaNYC: Getting Sustainability Done, which included a commitment to a public solar financing project for low-income homeowners in environmental justice communities, informed by HR&A’s study.

During the second phase of the project, HR&A supported the City of New York on its successful application for the Solar for All grant, part of the $27 billion dollar Federal Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. The State’s application secured millions of dollars that led to the creation of PSNYC, a new program that targets specific barriers to solar deployment for disadvantaged communities and low-income households.

HR&A developed a detailed financial program for a publicly funded solar program that was structured to revolve profits from solar leasing and community solar programs back into the program to ensure the fund could be self-sustaining. HR&A also developed a detailed implementation plan for the establishment of an entity to administer the public solar program. The implementation plan describes the responsibilities and funding across several phases: marketing and outreach, system installation, and operations for both the public leasing and community solar programs.

HR&A continues supporting the City in the successful implementation of PSNYC as they receive new funding from the Federal Government.

Learn more about the Solar for All grant award in this EPA Announcement 

The Long Island City northern waterfront currently hosts the Ravenswood Generating Station, the largest fossil fuel plant in New York City, providing over 20% of the City’s local power capacity. After Rise Light & Power committed to transforming it into a renewable energy hub, the Office of the Queens Borough President brought on HR&A to lead “Reimagine Ravenswood,” a community-driven site reuse, neighborhood improvement, and workforce development planning process to guide a just transition to an inclusive clean energy economy in western Queens.

The work will advance New York’s climate goals and yield significant benefits for union labor and environmental justice in Queens, serving a population of over two million residents. HR&A’s efforts are supported by funding from the NYSERDA Just Transition Site Reuse Planning Program, matched by Rise Light and Power.
 
Stakeholder engagement played a central role in the community planning process, with the community participating through a steering committee, public workshops, focus groups, and a public survey. In addition, the team, in partnership with Fu Wilmer Design, conducted both an evaluation of the existing site and an economic analysis of opportunities for talent development and business development in green industry, small manufacturing, technology, life sciences, the arts, and other growing industries in Western Queens.

The engagement and analysis are informing alternative site reuse plans for the power plant parcel, community revitalization strategies for the broader neighborhood, inclusive workforce development strategies focused on green jobs and other growing sectors, and a focused action plan and timeline for reimaging the site and its connection to the surrounding neighborhood.

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NYSERDA Just Transition Site Reuse Planning Program 

Press 

Ravenswood Generating Station is going green, Borough President launches community study — LIC Post