Practice Area Archives - Page 8 of 10

NYC BigApps

February 8, 2016 / Comments Off

The NYC BigApps competition awarded over $200,000 to innovative civic tech startups and piloted new models for collaboration between tech and the public sector.

In 2014, the New York City Economic Development Corporation selected HR&A as program administrator of NYC BigApps, a trendsetting civic tech competition that has helped launched more than 500 apps and devices. HR&A has led all aspects of program design and management for BigApps 2014 and 2015, developing two interactive web platforms; producing more than 25 events; securing more than $500,000 in cash and in-kind sponsorships; managing partnerships with more than 100 organizations; and overseeing the selection processes that awarded $230,000 to 16 high-impact tech products.

HR&A led a major redesign of BigApps in 2014, the competition’s fifth year. To facilitate more targeted submissions, HR&A partnered with New York City agencies and nonprofit organizations to craft more than 30 “BigIdea Challenges” that awarded extra prizes for specific solutions. To engage the public, HR&A produced 11 events, including the BigApps Block Party, a day-long tech showcase that attracted more than 1,000 attendees. The competition received 117 submissions, the most of any competition year. Among the 2014 winners was Heat Seek NYC, which uses low-cost sensor technology to track heating violations in apartment buildings. Since winning $25,000 in prizes, Heat Seek has been accepted into two prominent incubator programs, introduced an improved sensor and software platform, and launched a winter 2015 pilot program that deployed 120 sensors across 40 low-income buildings throughout New York City.

For BigApps 2015, HR&A again recruited more than 30 City agencies, civic organizations, and private sector firms, but this time focused on four high-impact Challenges: Affordable Housing, Zero Waste, Connected Cities, and Civic Engagement. These Challenges were designed to support Mayor de Blasio’s OneNYC: The Plan for a Strong and Just City. Over a four-month period, partners co-created products with teams and committed to supporting the implementation of winning products. In December, BigApps awarded $125,000 to seven impactful civic tech products, including Benefit Kitchen, a mobile app that helps low-income New Yorkers access public benefits; JustFix.nyc, a web platform that empowers tenants to improve their living conditions; and Addicaid, a digital support network designed for individuals struggling with substance abuse. In addition to prizes, teams won four months of Incubation at Civic Hall, including access to meeting and work space, targeted workshops, access to professional networks, and expert guidance on business planning, marketing, funding strategies, and product development.

Read more about BigApps at NYC .gov, EDC.nyc, AM New York, and Crain’s NY Business.

100 Resilient Cities Challenge

February 8, 2016 / Comments Off

HR&A is supporting urban leaders in 100 cities across the United States as they develop comprehensive, actionable plans to become more resilient to social, economic, and physical risks and challenges.

HR&A supports the 100 Resilient Cities program, a global initiative pioneered by The Rockefeller Foundation, and Chief Resilience Officers across the United States as they develop comprehensive resilience strategies and implementation plans that respond to their cities’ unique set of risks and long-term vision and goals. Each strategy and implementation plan is designed to build the capacity of individuals, communities, institutions, businesses, and systems within a city to not only survive a major disruption event such as an earthquake or flood, but also to adapt and grow in the face of chronic stresses such as poverty or housing availability.

HR&A works with each Chief Resilience Officer and other senior officials to develop comprehensive resilience strategies.

At the forefront of Resilience Strategy Development, HR&A has supported the comprehensive strategic plans for Norfolk, New York City and New Orleans – the first to be delivered as a part of the 100RC program. In Norfolk, HR&A worked with the Chief Resilience Officer (CRO) to design initiatives that will 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. New York City’s strategy, developed with support from HR&A, envisions a more resilient city embracing balanced growth, a more inclusive economy, sustainability in the face of climate change, and more resilient infrastructure and services. In New Orleans, HR&A supported the CRO in prioritizing initiatives advancing coastal protection and restoration, creating equity through opportunity, and redesigning regional transit systems. Future strategies may include the development of high priority implementable projects and initiatives that strengthen infrastructure, generate economic opportunity, improve governance structures, and build social capital.

Through the Resilience Strategy Development process, HR&A supports cities and CROs to:

Identify and prioritize potential acute shocks and chronic stresses that their cities face;
Provide thought leadership by guiding use of best practices and delivering data-driven analyses;
Coordinate and facilitate stakeholder workshops; and
Design a Phase-1 Resilience Strategy

HR&A led agenda-setting workshops for six of the ten selected North American cities: Los Angeles, California; Norfolk, Virginia; Boston, Massachusetts; Boulder, Colorado; Tulsa, Oklahoma; St. Louis, Missouri; and El Paso, Texas. Prior to each workshop, HR&A analyzed the city context, including demographic, economic, social, and physical metrics, to define a city-specific strategic plan. Learn more about the program at 100resilientcities.org

Martha Jefferson Hospital

December 18, 2015 / Comments Off

HR&A Partner Shuprotim Bhaumik guided the comprehensive relocation and redevelopment process for the historic Martha Jefferson Hospital.

When Martha Jefferson Hospital was facing the challenges of aging facilities and limited opportunities for expansion, they engaged an Shuprotim Bhaumik as an advisor to assist them in redeveloping its historic facility in downtown Charlottesville, Virginia. The hospital planned to relocate to newly constructed facilities and wanted to plan for the disposition of the hospital’s historic main building and eight acres of surrounding land. The Hospital engaged Shuprotim to evaluate economic conditions; develop a market-feasible program for the redevelopment of the parcel by a single developer; and lead the developer selection and negotiation process. The hospital later engaged him to create a phased disposition strategy in order to get the strongest private market response.

Under Shuprotim’s leadership, the Hospital created a phased disposition strategy and received several proposals from the development community and ultimately selected a Charlottesville-based developer Octagon Partners to redevelop the historic main building and hospital campus.

Image Courtesy: Kahler Slater

NBC Universal Evolution Plan

December 18, 2015 / Comments Off

HR&A provided detailed economic analysis for NBC Universal’s entertainment and studio complex expansion plan.

HR&A analyzed population, housing, public school enrollment, employment, economic and fiscal impacts of a proposed $1.6 billion Specific Plan that will increase the intensity of development at Universal City. The project site is the home of NBC Universal’s 400-acre film studio, studio tour, entertainment retail, commercial office and hotel complex. HR&A’s analyses were included in the Environmental Impact Report on the project.

The project is located in an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County, but also includes areas that are in the City of Los Angeles. Some areas may be annexed to or detached from each jurisdiction, which required rigorous attention to measuring impacts by jurisdiction under multiple development scenarios.

All project entitlements, except for the minor jurisdictional annexations/detachments have now been approved by both the City of Los Angeles and the County of Los Angeles.

HR&A also prepared similar impact analyses for the Walt Disney Company’s multi-billion dollar expansion of Disneyland in the City of Anaheim, 20th Century Fox’s expansion of its facilities in Century City, and a new pending master plan for Paramount Pictures Corporation in Hollywood.

New Jersey Performing Arts Center

December 18, 2015 / Comments Off

HR&A has supported the New Jersey Performing Arts Center since its inception. We helped craft the rationale for its funding and have provided development advisory services as it considers abutting residential development to achieve its founding mission of stewarding economic revitalization in Downtown Newark.

The opening of the half-billion dollar New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) symbolized downtown resurgence and a redefining moment for Newark. Since its opening over a decade ago, NJPAC has drawn over 6 million visitors, and is considered a pioneering project in downtown Newark that has been followed by major investments such as the Prudential Center (the New Jersey Devils’ arena), increased office occupancy, the redeveloped 1180 Raymond, and One Theater Square.

HR&A developed an economic and fiscal impact study, and a long-term financial plan for NJPAC.

HR&A’s study of NJPAC’s effectiveness in revitalizing the Newark economy was integral in securing federal, State, City, and private funds including grants, bond and tax increment financing, and special assessments. At the project’s inception, HR&A projected NJPAC’s development, visitation and spending impacts.

HR&A provided real estate advisory services to NJPAC on the development of the first mixed-use project on an adjacent site, One Theater Square.

The original plan allowed NJPAC to acquire abutting parcels for private development in order to provide a long term source of revenue to fund the arts. In partnership with the City of Newark and State of New Jersey, HR&A assisted NJPAC in crafting a financial structure, then identified a highly qualified development partner. We consulted on the use of a variety of incentive programs for this development (Low Income Housing Credits, New Markets Tax Credits, and others). Although plans for the proposed redevelopment initially suffered due to the economic downturn, the adjacent mixed-use development plans were unveiled in 2010. One Theater Square has been approved for $38 million over ten years in funding from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority’s Urban Transit Hub Tax Credit Program and will also receive significant contributions from the State of New Jersey.

Legacy Planning for Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

December 18, 2015 / No Comments

HR&A advised on the development and implementation framework for Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to secure the economic and community legacy of the 2012 London Games.

The Olympic Park Legacy Company, the quasi-governmental organization established to oversee the development and operation of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, invited HR&A to advise on key elements of a new implementation framework that would transform the 2012 Olympic grounds into a network of parks, recreation facilities, and small residential neighborhoods along the River Lea in East London. The Legacy Company sought to create a development framework that would deliver social, economic, and environmental benefits by catalyzing private investment, amenitizing the surrounding areas, and attracting diverse groups of visitors.

The master plan for the Olympic grounds organized five new neighborhoods with two signature parks, 6,000 units of housing, two miles of naturalized waterways, and a system of connections and neighborhood commons that include sporting venues, commercial space, and cultural amenities. Focusing on the 250 acres of parklands, HR&A analyzed best practices for development and activation of post-industrial and post-Olympic landscapes, and emphasized the ability of the parkland’s development parcels to drive property values.

After reviewing the Legacy Company’s previous framework and business plan for the proposed parks, HR&A assessed capital, operations, and management requirements, and identified the financial and organizational resources needed to build and sustain a dynamic park system on the former Olympic grounds. The firm helped develop new capital and operating budgets in-line with recommended strategies to ensure the landscape’s transformation into world-class park system, complete with a dedicated programming and stewardship framework to activate, manage, and maintain the public realm.

The Legacy Company incorporated HR&A’s recommendations to adopt a new perspective on the role of public-realm investment for successful real estate development. The Legacy Company restructured its budget and launched two design competitions, which resulted in award-winning parks and plazas designed by James Corner Field Operations and London-based Erect Architecture. Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park has received over 4.5 million visitors since its 2013 opening, and recently secured funding to develop a new culture and education quarter comprised of university campuses, additional space for the Victoria and Albert museum, and a 600-seat theatre.

Los Angeles Mental Health Services Act Housing Program

December 18, 2015 / Comments Off

HR&A collaborated with the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health to design and implement the County’s Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) Housing Program. Within 12 months, the original MHSA funds were committed to 30 projects, and together with $131 million of supplemental funding added during subsequent years, the County deployed a total of $243 million to fund 92 developments with 5,400 units, 1,700 of which were targeted to vulnerable populations.

The Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) Housing Program is a voter-approved initiative charged with expanding mental health services in the state of California. Among its many initiatives is a funding allocation to each county to provide pre-development, permanent financing, and capitalized operating subsidies for new, permanent supportive housing for persons with serious mental illness who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. From 2007 to 2019, HR&A served as chief housing consultant to assist with design and implementation of deploying the County’s initial $116 million share of the MHSA Housing program to provide capital and operating subsidy loans for service-enriched, permanent supportive housing for homeless Angelenos.

HR&A helped Department of Mental Health staff design a process for screening and selecting development proposals for funding, perform initial due diligence review of successful application financing plans, facilitate coordination between the department staff and other funders, and assist the department and California Housing Finance Agency to complete underwriting review of loan applications.

Explore

Learn more about the program on Los Angeles County’s Mental Health Services Act Website

PlaNYC & OneNYC

December 18, 2015 / Comments Off

HR&A supported multi-agency, cross-disciplinary planning efforts for PlaNYC and led the creation of OneNYC, the City of New York’s long-term plans.

The Bloomberg administration first developed PlaNYC in 2007 as the City’s bold plan for sustainable growth in New York City through 2030. HR&A provided policy advisory services for the creation of the initial plan and supported the development of an update in 2011. In 2015, HR&A worked closely with the Mayor’s Office to project manage the update to PlaNYC, incorporating Mayor de Blasio’s policy goals of equity and inclusion in OneNYC: The Plan for a Strong and Just City.

As project manager and lead advisor for OneNYC, HR&A worked with over 70 agencies and the Mayor’s Office to develop a plan focused around four visions for the City of New York: Growth, Equity, Sustainability, and Resiliency.

OneNYC will guide the city on a path of broad-based growth that includes all five boroughs and lifts up the city’s most vulnerable populations. HR&A worked with departments and agencies to set ambitious long-term targets and create major initiatives to support job creation, population growth, household income, housing affordability, and transit access to jobs for New Yorkers.

In addition to project management and agency coordination, HR&A implemented a community and stakeholder outreach initiative and prepared an in-depth policy analysis.

We worked with the Mayor’s Office to develop an outreach strategy to ensure that the voices of New Yorkers were incorporated into OneNYC. Through town hall meetings, elected official briefings, and a public survey, our team sought input from thousands of New Yorkers to understand how the City’s 30-year plan could better serve them. HR&A also prepared an analysis of the economic, demographic, and environmental trends influencing the city and its surrounding region today and in the future. This critical work led to the development of the Plan’s economic, transportation, and housing initiatives.

Mayor Bill de Blasio launched OneNYC on April 22, 2015.

The City subsequently proposed a 10-year capital strategy within its executive budget that included $22 billion in capital allocations to OneNYC initiatives. Prior to the launch, HR&A spearheaded an effort to create a database and map of $266 billion in planned future capital investment by the City and its regional and state partners. Our work on this will provide the City a valuable tool to inform and track future investment decisions.

HR&A also provided advisory services for the creation of the initial PlaNYC 2030, unveiled in 2007, and supported the development of an update in 2011, for which we provided policy support.

In 2007, HR&A served as project manager and lead advisor for the development of a long-range transportation plan under PlaNYC. We provided the foundation for the final policy initiatives, which created a comprehensive framework for future transportation planning in New York City. To cover the wide range of complex and interrelated issues related to transportation planning in the City, HR&A convened and led an interagency team with representation from the Mayor’s Office, the Department of Transportation, and the New York City Economic Development Corporation. The team evaluated the current state of local transportation systems, and drafted policy recommendations to improve and expand sustainable transportation infrastructure. In addition, HR&A identified strategies to spur brownfield redevelopment and in August 2010, then-Mayor Bloomberg launched the nation’s first municipal brownfield cleanup program.

In support of PlaNYC 2.0 in 2011, the first major update to PlaNYC, HR&A evaluated existing energy efficiency and clean distributed generation funding programs available to real estate owners and tenants in New York City. The firm examined existing energy program budgets and expenditures, and issued policy recommendations for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the programs.

Single Sales Factor Tax Analysis

December 18, 2015 / Comments Off

HR&A demonstrated the economic and fiscal benefits of the Single Sales Factor tax policy in New York City and State.

Single Sales Factor is a tax policy change that encourages companies to keep jobs and capital in New York City. HR&A worked on behalf of a consortium led by the Motion Picture Association of America—composed of Fortune 500 companies and including executives from The Walt Disney Company—to conduct an economic and fiscal impact analysis to demonstrate the benefits generated by establishing Single Sales Factor corporate taxation in New York City.

Based on HR&A’s findings, New York State signed into law legislation that contains single sales factor tax reform for New York City in 2009.

At the time of HR&A’s study in 2008, 20 states, including the State of New York had adopted Single Sales Factor apportionment. HR&A researched and reviewed academic analysis of jurisdictional tax policies across the 50 states, prepared an economic analysis of the proposed policy change for New York City, weighed evidence in support of and opposed to modifying corporate income taxes, and presented a policy proposal to senior New York City policymakers.

Research Triangle Park

December 18, 2015 / Comments Off

For the Research Triangle Foundation in North Carolina, HR&A worked with a multidisciplinary team to create a master plan for the next 50 years of Research Triangle Park’s growth, advising the team on a real estate strategy and on the economic impact of the Park on the region.

Research Triangle Park was the first and most prestigious of its brand of science and technology research parks. Created in 1959 with the support of state and local economic development agencies and the three major universities nearby, the Park catalyzed high-tech employment growth in the region and set the standard for research parks comprised of corporate campuses in a park-like setting.

As part of its work, HR&A:

Assessed the sectoral growth opportunities at the Park and in the region, and the physical needs and priorities of companies and workers in those sectors;
Based on those physical criteria, informed creation of a master plan for the next generation of park development, including the introduction of a vibrant and sustainable mixed-use district;
Evaluated the local real estate market to determine the financial feasibility of new construction and supporting infrastructure; and
Recommended a development strategy and business plan for the Foundation to advance the introduction of new uses and infrastructure that will help the Park continue to act as an engine of regional economic growth.

In parallel, HR&A undertook a comprehensive assessment of the economic and fiscal impact of the Park, using longitudinal employment data to determine the Park’s role in generating high-technology employment throughout the Research Triangle region. The study estimated the economic and fiscal impact of this employment, including direct, indirect and induced impacts. HR&A also calculated additional economic benefits including private industry investment, entrepreneurship and the creation of an innovation economy. As the master plan evolved, HR&A expanded its economic assessment to estimate the impact of the regulatory changes and additional development envisioned in the Plan.

HR&A served as an advisor to the Foundation as it worked to implement the Plan. HR&A assisted the Foundation in working with tenants and land owners to facilitate land assemblage for mixed-use development clusters within the Park. HR&A also worked with the Foundation to identify development partners for plan implementation, and to negotiate and structure associated agreements. In September 2014, the Foundation entered into an agreement with Hines to advance the first phase of development.