In Texas and across the country, Aaron works with cities, landowners, and nonprofits to create real estate projects, public spaces, and policies that strengthen communities and advance economic opportunity.
Based in Dallas, Aaron leads HR&A’s Texas office and brings expertise in real estate development, public finance, economic development, and strategic planning. His work helps clients turn bold visions into reality by developing the strategies, resources, and partnerships needed for successful implementation. Aaron guides major mixed-use district and open space projects through planning, funding, and partnership development and works with governments to craft creative and equitable policies that address community needs and disparities. Whether advising on a plan for four miles of waterfront public spaces or helping a city rewrite its economic development strategy, Aaron focuses on creating lasting positive impact for the communities where people live and work.
Aaron has guided some of HR&A’s most complex real estate projects from vision to implementation. As strategic advisor to Rice Management Company, he helped plan and implement the Ion—a 300,000 square foot innovation hub anchoring a 16-acre district designed to build an inclusive tech ecosystem. This work included crafting a Community Benefits Agreement that secured over $15 million in commitments for workforce training, entrepreneurship support, and affordable housing. In Denver, Aaron led the team developing a market-driven master plan for Broadway Station, a 40-acre transit-oriented development site, including the analysis and negotiations underlying a $140 million public finance agreement. In Fort Worth, he managed visioning for Panther Island, a 400+ acre site adjacent to downtown with significant development potential tied to major flood control improvements.
Aaron helps cities and organizations craft policies that reflect their values and advance their missions. For four years, he advised the City of Dallas on implementing its Economic Development Policy—the first to proactively address disparities in economic opportunity through policy, public investment, and partnership. This work included updating incentive programs, historic preservation policies, housing policy action plans, and community development functions. Aaron also guided Downtown Dallas, Inc. through its first comprehensive strategic planning process, resulting in a new mission and focused priorities for the downtown improvement district. In Cleveland, he advised on the governance strategy for transforming the North Coast Lakefront, leading to the creation of a new Waterfront Development Authority.
Aaron has provided analysis and planning support for transformative urban parks and public spaces. He worked with the Buffalo Bayou Partnership on the investment strategy and master plan for Buffalo Bayou East, a four-mile extension of Houston’s waterfront park system. For the Trinity Park Conservancy in Dallas, Aaron’s team prepared an Equitable Development Toolkit and real estate impact study to guide planning for Harold Simmons Park. His public space work also includes projects with the Dallas Park & Recreation Department, Klyde Warren Park, Kansas City’s Washington Square Park, and Cleveland’s Shaker Square.
Aaron joined HR&A in 2013 in New York City and moved to Dallas in 2015 to launch the Texas office. Prior to HR&A, he spent two years working in Southeast Asia as a Princeton in Asia Fellow in Ho Chi Minh City, coordinating fundraising for road safety initiatives, and later supported corporate social responsibility efforts at Intel in Bangkok. He previously worked for community development organizations in Cleveland and New York.
Aaron holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public & International Affairs at Princeton University, where he also received a certificate in Urban Studies.
- Princeton in Asia Fellow in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
- Intel in Bangkok, Thailand
- Slavic Village Development
Projects
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 helped successfully transform a historic former Sears department store 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 led a multidisciplinary team to develop an updated strategic vision and implementation roadmap for the 300+ acre Panther Island project adjacent to Downtown Fort Worth. Working with a steering committee of public-sector and civic stakeholders, we delivered actionable recommendations that align flood control infrastructure with economic and real estate development opportunities, creating a framework for transformative public and private investment shaped by community ambitions.
HR&A worked with Centro San Antonio and the City of San Antonio in 2011 to create a Strategic Framework Plan to transformed Downtown San Antonio from a convention-focused district into a thriving residential community. The plan was officially adopted by both organizations and has generated over 8,000 new housing. Following the successful “Decade of Downtown”, HR&A was re-engaged in 2024 to update the plan for the next decade of growth and investment.
HR&A advised the Greater Cleveland Partnership on governance strategies for the Cleveland North Coast Lakefront transformation, a complex waterfront redevelopment along Lake Erie. Our stakeholder facilitation and case study analysis resulted in recommendations for a new independent entity dedicated to lakefront redevelopment — balancing city leadership with organizational flexibility. A new non-profit entity, the North Coast Waterfront Development Corporation (NCWDC), was formed based on our recommendations, which now supports the City's ongoing master planning efforts and will carry the momentum through multiple political cycles.
HR&A worked with the City of Dallas and stakeholders to craft an Economic Development Policy and Incentives Policy to proactively address disparities in economic opportunity through policy, public investment, and partnership. As advisors, analysts, subject matter experts, and external capacity, HR&A helped ensure that the implementation of the policy would provide measurable impacts and improvements to businesses and communities across Dallas.
