We’re planning tomorrow’s vibrant places.

HR&A served as strategic partner and development advisor to Rice Management Company for The Ion and broader 16-acre Ion District in Houston, overseeing real estate and programmatic development. This comprehensive advisory role has successfully transformed a former Sears building into a thriving innovation hub while laying the groundwork for a 3-5 million square foot mixed-use innovation district that fosters an inclusive tech ecosystem and creates equitable economic opportunities.

HR&A supported the City of Boston’s Planning Department (fka the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA)) in studying the feasibility of converting vacant downtown offices to residences through subsidies, tax incentives, and expedited permitting, which resulted in the City launching an office conversion pilot program. Since its launch in October 2023, the program has received applications proposing nearly 800 new homes, and in 2024 the City extended the pilot with $15 million in new funding from the State.

HR&A worked with the University of Utah and Salt Lake City Redevelopment Authority to establish a strategic framework for jointly developing the Station Center site into a vibrant innovation district. Through comprehensive stakeholder engagement and programmatic analysis, HR&A identified optimal governance structures, land ownership strategies, and catalytic programming approaches that balanced community priorities with the university's research strengths, delivering actionable recommendations that are now guiding the site's Vision Plan.

We craft development strategies that strengthen cities by transforming underutilized and underinvested areas into vibrant places where residents want to live, work, and play. Whether we’re helping cities understand how to revitalize their downtown or working with a non-profit to invest in a neighborhood without displacing existing residents, we offer an expansive understanding of comprehensive planning, stakeholder engagement, and market analysis. Our approach combines community input with innovative financing strategies to unlock unrealized value and offer a clear implementation strategy. We guide jurisdictions through zoning reforms, public space improvements, and mixed-use development to preserve authentic identity while attracting investment and boosting local economies.

We work with mission-driven organizations to create strategic plans that leverage their real estate and assets to strengthen their community impact. Our approach starts by taking the time to fully understand organizational needs and values, and then developing approaches that apply that understanding with practical real estate and economic analysis to help non-profit organizations – such as universities, hospital, faith communities, and cultural institutions –  navigate growth challenges, optimize their physical spaces, and diversify revenue streams. We guide leaders toward realistic, market-based, and values-based decisions, and then guide them through complex development processes — from feasibility studies to implementation — ensuring projects align with organizational goals while building long-term non-profit capacity to serve their communities more effectively.

Today’s hubs for innovation look nothing like the suburban office parks of yesteryear—they are dynamic, culturally rich places that foster connection and are embedded into the regional fabric. We work with universities, developers, local governments, and technology companies to harness the potential of the innovation economy by creating places and programs that attract and foster professional talent while creating economic innovation engines. Through our in-depth understanding of public, private, and institutional sectors, we structure partnerships and recommend policies that accelerate innovation and economic growth.

We’re at the leading edge of designing, operating, programming and funding urban open spaces that serve as both public amenities and economic catalysts. Through rigorous analysis, we help communities create value by strategically connecting parks, civic assets, and private real estate. Our work products quantify the value of those connections using robust, data-driven analysis and demonstrate how that new value can be used to fund open space revitalization, programming, and maintenance. With over four decades of experience and 130+ projects including NYC’s High Line and Atlanta’s BeltLine, we provide visioning and implementation strategies that turn parks into sustainable economic engines.

Sports-anchored mixed-use development leverages the presence and identity of teams to drive broader district- and city-building activity, creating lasting value beyond game day. We guide professional teams, municipalities, public agencies, and developers through the complex public-private partnerships required to bring sports-anchored development to life. Our team oversees pre-development processes, analyzes market dynamics and development feasibility, assesses economic and community benefits, and delivers funding and implementation strategies to transform the land around sports venues into year-round economic engines. Our approach focuses on helping ensure these significant public-private investments generate sustainable economic impact while strengthening the fabric of surrounding communities.

Cultural capital drives sustainable community transformation by honoring the historic, aesthetic, and economic assets that define neighborhoods and their people. We work at the intersection of real estate advisory, placemaking, and economic development to center chronically marginalized communities’ cultural strengths. Our approach leverages historical institutions and community assets to achieve equitable development that creates opportunity for residents and reinforces an authentic sense of place and belonging. We partner with local development agencies, planning offices, developers, foundations, and cultural institutions to develop comprehensive strategies that honor community identity while fostering conscientious growth. Through data-driven analysis and inclusive engagement, we help communities tell their cultural story and build sustainable pathways to prosperity.

Transportation is the circulatory system of a city — connecting people to places and communities to opportunity. We work with municipalities, transit agencies, and real estate developers to produce development plans that attract investment and support community cohesion and prosperity. Through comprehensive frameworks for individual stations, corridors, and regional policies, our team of former transit executives and real estate experts bridges public and private priorities to create actionable strategies that make an impact.

We serve as a long-term extension of our clients’ teams, guiding public and private organizations through the complexities of the development process. Our clients come to us in different stages of the development process—some have land and a clear vision but need our support with procurement or seeking funding, others need our help creating a concrete plan for how to advance their economic or community objectives with their current assets. We bring together feasibility analysis, economic modeling, and strategic negotiation with public agencies and private partners to transform our clients’ visions into built realities. Beyond our analytical expertise, we also curate and manage broader development teams, helping clients select and hire the right planners, engineers, and other specialists needed to successfully achieve their development goals.