We're designing solutions for housing affordability.
Housing Plans
To effectively address housing affordability challenges, you need to understand the problem and create a roadmap to solve it. Our housing experts conduct housing needs assessments to assess and quantify how many homes are needed to support communities and local economies. Then, we identify gaps in existing housing programs, policies and funding and explore options to build a stronger set of housing tools, grounded in local feasibility. We specialize in bringing communities together to set clear priorities and build strategies that are tailored to local needs. Once we’re done, we help our clients tell their housing affordability story and get the word out to support adoption and implementation.
HR&A worked with the Maine Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation to develop a study to understand housing needs and deficits along with their impacts on Maine’s economy. Our study found that 76,400–84,300 new homes need to be built within the next 7 years to maintain Maine’s economic growth.
The City of Stamford, which has grown over 10.5% in the past decade, partnered with HR&A to address its affordable housing needs with the Stamford Housing Affordability Plan, which updated zoning policies and launched a Housing Trust Fund. Recognized for excellence in community engagement by the Connecticut Chapter American Planning Association and as the best among 17 local housing plans by Fairfield County’s Center for Housing Opportunity, the plan aims to create or renovate 1,000 affordable apartments by 2025.
HR&A developed an Affordable Housing Plan for the City of Charlottesville that centers racial equity and regional collaboration to guide the city’s investments in affordable housing programs and policies. Charlottesville has made significant progress on the Plan’s three major initiatives including: dedicating $10M a year to affordable housing, building inclusive governance throughout the City’s housing ecosystem, and adopting progressive, inclusionary zoning reforms — all of which are shaping a denser, more economically diverse Charlottesville. 
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HR&A developed an Affordable Housing Investment Strategy for Athens-Clarke County that will more than double the jurisdiction's affordable housing production. Our needs assessment, funding analysis, and stakeholder engagement identified strategies to deploy public dollars more effectively, moving beyond $1.7 million in annual federal entitlements to create local funding sources that increase flexibility and impact.
Ford's proposed $2.5 billion electric vehicle battery plant in nearby Marshall spurred Battle Creek to prepare for growth and address housing challenges. HR&A delivered actionable housing strategies for the City, Battle Creek Unlimited, and the WK Kellogg Foundation through a Housing Framework and Action Plan that prioritized investments and programs to meet current and future demand.
Norfolk's newly formed Department of Housing and Community Development is positioning the city to deliver fair housing outcomes through comprehensive planning and innovative programs. HR&A is conducting a citywide housing study, developing NDHCD's strategic plan, and providing technical assistance on initiatives including inclusionary zoning policy and an affordable housing trust fund that will sustainably deploy flexible funding for local programs.
Rising rents and home prices threatened Chattanooga's affordability during a period of steady growth. HR&A's Housing Action Plan provided the City with strategic tools addressing rental affordability, homeownership access, and homelessness prevention while building ecosystem capacity to advance equity for all Chattanoogans.
HR&A equipped El Paso with a comprehensive roadmap to address its housing affordability crisis. Working with the Housing Authority of the City of El Paso and TAG Associates, our regional needs assessment and production plan analyzed barriers to both multifamily and single-family development while recommending solutions that positioned City Council to increase affordable housing investment.
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