Griffiss Air Force Base Realignment

November 12, 2015 / Comments Off on Griffiss Air Force Base Realignment

HR&A led the Base Realignment and Closure process for the Griffiss Air Force Base, which was successfully redeveloped into a Business and Technology Park.

HR&A worked with Oneida County and a variety of local stakeholders in Upstate New York on the re-use of Griffiss Air Force Base, a 3,500-acre military facility slated for realignment by the Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC). The Base served as a major regional economic driver, and its redevelopment was vital to maintaining economic stability in the County. Through 2010, the re-use of the base as a Griffiss Business and Technology Park has attracted approximately 75 businesses and 5,500 jobs in technology, manufacturing, aviation, office, education and recreation.

Griffiss Business and Technology Business Park has since exceeded all development targets established in the HR&A-developed plan.

HR&A led a project team to:

 

Analyze real estate, aviation, and land use issues;

Prepare a financial feasibility analysis for a range of proposed industrial, commercial, and recreational uses;

Create a capital investment program and implementation plan;

Prepare the Economic Development Conveyance application for this facility (including a projection of the new jobs and economic activity that redevelopment would create); and

Assist in the land transfer.

HR&A also led the successful effort to save the co-located Rome Air Lab from closure.

In 1993, the Rome Air Laboratory, one of the eight research and development labs run by the US Air Force and located on the Griffiss Base, was facing closure. HR&A served as the community’s consultant in the successful effort to save the Lab, a military “super laboratory”. We guided a team of lobbyists, science and technology experts, econometric modelers and marketing professionals to justify preserving Rome Lab to the Air Force and the Department of Defense, as well as to Congressional and White House officials. Due to HR&A’s work, the Lab was spared closure. HR&A also coordinated a similarly successful effort for the 2005 BRAC review round, which resulted in continued civilian and military employment at Rome Lab.

Green Lease Forum

November 12, 2015 / Comments Off on Green Lease Forum

HR&A brought together a diverse array of New York City industry leaders to develop strategies that resulted in creation of the nation’s first true green commercial lease.

The cost and benefits of energy efficiency investments in commercial office buildings are distributed unequally between owners and tenants. Landlords responsible for making capital investments in base building systems are unable to pass costs along to tenants, and tenants disproportionately enjoy the benefits of such investments. A similar split incentive may occur in tenanted spaces where landlords select equipment but tenants are responsible for operating costs, and/or where metering arrangements do not permit tenants to monitor their own usage. This misalignment of incentives hampers efforts to encourage green policies in commercial buildings.

HR&A addressed the split incentives between commercial building owners and tenants by guiding the creation of a forum to examine the opportunity for green leases.

With principal funding from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and program design and implementation led by HR&A, in 2008 the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) convened a group of 50 individuals representing New York City’s leading real estate owners, major tenants, environmental advocacy groups, and commercial leasing and building systems professionals. NRDC asked HR&A to staff the group and lead its deliberations.

 

This diverse group of industry experts had never engaged in structured dialogue about an issue of mutual concern before; indeed, many had never met each other before. Over the course of three sessions, HR&A facilitated conversations which led the participants to agree to broadly acceptable basic principles and guidance for lease negotiations that are designed to reward efficiency investments – a landmark achievement. The participating real estate professionals established consensus on three common-sense leasing principles to advance energy efficiency in commercial buildings:

 

  • Landlords should operate buildings and tenants should operate their premises as efficiently as is feasible;
  • For any given installation, responsibility for capital costs and the benefits of savings should reside with the same entity; and
  • To the extent feasible, both consumption and demand for resources throughout buildings should be measurable and transparent to both landlords and tenants.

HR&A’s work ultimately led to the creation of the nation’s first true “green lease,” which more appropriately shares the costs as well as the benefits of energy efficiency improvements among owners and tenants.

The findings and principles agreed upon during the Green Lease Forum led to the creation of the foundation document used by the New York City Mayor’s Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability Green Lease Task Force, which was convened in 2010. Utilizing the principles developed by HR&A, the Mayor’s Office drafted and promulgated model green lease language which resulted in the first true green lease being signed in early 2011 between Silverstein Properties and the law firm Wilmer Hale at 7 World Trade Center. This pioneering green lease language is now a requirement for all new commercial office lease negotiations for City-occupied space in New York City.

Energy Efficiency in Commercial Real Estate

November 12, 2015 / Comments Off on Energy Efficiency in Commercial Real Estate

For over a decade, HR&A worked closely with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to design and manage some of the State’s most effective energy efficiency programs.

Reducing energy consumption in commercial buildings is vital to achieving New York State’s energy efficiency goals. In 1999, the nearly 600-million square feet of commercial office space in the State was responsible for 25 percent of its energy use and emissions. The Governor and former Mayor Bloomberg set goals of 15% electric efficiency savings by 2015, and 30% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030, respectively. Therefore, reducing energy consumption in commercial buildings is vital to achieving these goals.

From 2007-2012, HR&A worked closely with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to design and manage a marketing, outreach and technical assistance program, Commercial Real Estate Outreach (CREO), that led owners and managers through the diagnostic and financial planning work needed to identify a scope of improvements that would maximize both energy savings and return on investment.  As part of the program, HR&A developed a New York State-specific building benchmarking tool; a one-day walk-through energy audit; a lease analysis tool that evaluates how the costs and savings of potential measures will accrue to owners and tenants; and an action plan that summarizes the analyses, prioritizes recommended improvements, estimates costs and returns, and identifies applicable NYSERDA incentives. HR&A also assisted owners and managers with green leasing and marketing strategies and outreach to tenants. CREO proved to be one of the most effective energy efficiency programs advanced by the State.

 

In order to effectively identify outreach targets, HR&A produced and, following the Great Recession, updated a Market Analysis and Outreach Strategy for the state’s commercial office sector. The report evaluated the sector’s leading landlords, management companies, and their portfolios. The report explored four fundamental motivations for investing in energy efficiency: increased rents and/or decreased vacancy, decreased operating costs, enhanced green image, and compliance with impending governmental mandates. The report proposed a set of target landlords and tenants and suggested a marketing message for each.

 

We attribute our success to the fact that we provided dedicated Account Management for the 24 portfolios with whom we worked most intensively to facilitate uptake into NYSERDA’s core incentive programs. CREO was responsible for 227 NYSERDA program applications. In total, over 103 million square feet has been impacted by HR&A’s work, with $10 million in incentives disbursed and 13 million kWh saved.

Economic Impacts of Airbnb

November 12, 2015 / Comments Off on Economic Impacts of Airbnb

On behalf of Airbnb, an online service for short-term vacation rentals, HR&A conducted an economic impact assessment of Airbnb rental activities in San Francisco and New York City.

Airbnb is a leader in the “sharing economy,” a new trend in the sharing of resources facilitated by network technologies and social tools, and HR&A’s reports are among the most in-depth studies to date of the impacts of this economic trend.

The studies reveal multiple ways in which the new economic activities associated with Airbnb — which has grown exponentially since 2008 to serve 9 million guests in cities around the world — have significant impacts on a city and its neighborhoods, businesses, and residents:

  • Airbnb benefits its many hosts, who use Airbnb to supplement their income;
  • Airbnb impacts neighborhoods that are off the main hotel beat, distributing visitor spending across many neighborhoods and businesses throughout the city;
  • Airbnb benefits the city as a whole. In San Francisco, it generated $56 million in direct and indirect spending in one year and supported 380 full-time equivalent jobs. In New York, it generated $632 million in economic activity in New York and supported 4,580 jobs throughout all five boroughs.;
  • Much of this economic activity is new. Even as hotel occupancy has climbed, the number of Airbnb reservations has grown dramatically, indicating that many Airbnb users are a different visitor segment than hotel guests. Airbnb brings new economic spending to cities from visitors who are price-sensitive and seek a “live like a local” experience they may not otherwise find in conventional accommodation; and
  • Airbnb also enables cities to become more competitive by attracting skilled workers and incentivizing relocation with innovative short-term stay opportunities.

HR&A’s studies have been covered by WNYC, The Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, Real Estate Weekly, Media Post, New York Business Journal, Digital Journal, Tech Hive, Curbed,Morningstar, Forbes, TechCrunch, Marketwire, and The Huffington Post, among other news sources. It also attracted substantial attention from policy experts, and elected officials. The official press release for the New York Study is available online.

Image Courtesy of: Airbnb

Economic-Impact-of-Film-Production-Tax-Credits

Assessing the Economic Impacts of Film Production Tax Credits

November 12, 2015 / Comments Off on Assessing the Economic Impacts of Film Production Tax Credits

HR&A has analyzed the economic impacts of film production tax credit programs in New York, Massachusetts, and Louisiana to support key policy goals on behalf of the Motion Picture Association of America.

New York

New York has a long and illustrious history as a center of film and television production. To remain an attractive place for filming and production, New York State enacted the Empire State Film Production Tax Credit, which has supported over 700 film and television projects since its 2004 inception.  In 2012, our study of the New York State Film Production Tax Credit demonstrated the credit’s essential role in bolstering the state’s thriving film and television production industry, generating 28,900 jobs and $6.9 billion in spending. Following the study’s release, Governor Andrew Cuomo released a proposed budget containing a five-year extension of the credit. The extension and enhancement of the state’s film and television tax credit will provide the stability necessary to attract more long-term investments and create more jobs for New Yorkers all across the state. The extension expanded the scope of projects eligible for the credit, accommodates the rise of visual effects spending as a portion of overall budgets, and included provisions to drive more film production and post-production in upstate New York.

 

Massachusetts

In 2013, HR&A assessed the economic and fiscal impacts of the Massachusetts Film Production Tax Credit Program. Our analysis estimated  jobs, wages and economic output generated from filming and post-production activities, and considered the economic impact of production as well as the spending associated with film tourism,  infrastructure investments for production facilities, and value from media exposure. We found, that the tax-credit program generated 2,200 jobs in 2011 and $375 million in state spending, and also significant infrastructure investment. Following the release of our study, the state legislature rejected a budget amendment that would have capped the Commonwealth’s investment in the incentive program.

 

Louisiana

HR&A examined the dramatic growth of the Louisiana motion picture and television industry, in our economic and fiscal impact analysis of the Louisiana Motion Picture Investor Tax Credit  on behalf of the Motion Picture Association of America and the Louisiana Film and Entertainment Association. The analysis considered three major sources of economic impact – direct production spending, visitor spending attributable to film-induced tourism, and construction of studio and other production infrastructure. The Louisiana State Legislature enacted the credit in 2002, and adjusted it to a 30% tax credit on all qualified Louisiana production spending and a 5%  tax credit on Louisiana resident payroll in 2009.

 

From 2002 to 2013, film and television production employment increased by over 5,000 jobs, with estimated production spending of over $1 billion in 2013. In 2013 – considering both production spending and visitor spending attributable to motion picture and television tourism – the credit supported up to 33,520 jobs in Louisiana across all industries, generating up to $1.2 billion in personal income and up to $4 billion in economic output in Louisiana. In particular, visitor spending attributable to motion picture and television induced tourism in the state supported up to 22,720 jobs in Louisiana, generating up to $767 million in personal income and up to $2.4 billion in economic output. The tourism impacts are based on a survey of 1,381 recent visitors to Louisiana conducted by HR&A and Federated Sample, which found that 14.5% of domestic, out-of-state, leisure visitors can be considered motion picture- and/or television- induced tourists.

 

In all of these studies, HR&A used IMPLAN modeling to estimate the full economic benefits of the film credits, capturing the results in terms of jobs, wages, and economic output generated. HR&A also examined the fiscal impacts of the credits, in terms of state and local tax revenues. In all cases, HR&A’s final reports helped demonstrate the value of these types of tax credits for each state.