Kate Collignon helps communities implement inclusive economic growth strategies and delivers integrated development management services for non-profit and academic institutions.

 

Drawing on over 20 years of experience in the public and private sectors, Kate shapes and implements downtown, waterfront, and neighborhood investment strategies that revitalize communities across the United States. Kate has directed many of HR&A’s most complex large-scale planning and community engagement initiatives, including a growth and modernization strategy for Research Triangle Park; an award-winning open space and master plan for Philadelphia’s Delaware River Waterfront; OneNYC, New York City’s long-term strategic plan for equitable growth; and community-driven resiliency plans under the New York Rising Community Reconstruction Program. With a frequent focus on former industrial strongholds with transitioning economies, Kate understands how to structure targeted public investment strategies that spark private investment, sustain and attract residents and workers, and create jobs. Recently, Kate directed capital investment plans in Plattsburgh, Jamestown, and Jamaica, Queens, under New York State’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative; prepared an economic revitalization strategy for North Adams, MA; and helped drive initiatives to guide inclusive development along Detroit’s East Riverfront and in nearby neighborhoods and corridors.

Kate also crafts district and campus plans that fuel innovation and economic development. Her practice develops dynamic places that attract talent to neighborhoods and campuses; recommends strategies that build from industry, research and real estate strengths to grow and attract jobs; and identifies public/private partnership opportunities to achieve district and university goals. Kate guided HR&A’s efforts to drive creation of the 39North AgTech innovation district in St. Louis County, and the firm’s work to prepare the University of Pennsylvania’s South Bank Campus business plan that produced the Pennovation Works center for innovation. She provides ongoing support to North Carolina State University’s Centennial Campus, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Denver, and other universities in their campus activation and long-term development plans.

Kate’s integrated development management practice helps university, non-profit, and for-profit owners achieve their mission-based and financial goals. She supports clients throughout the development process and manages the technical teams necessary to take a project from concept to groundbreaking, advising on land-use, financing, governance, public-private partnerships, developer selection, and entitlements. Kate has helped non-profits like Brooklyn Community Services to monetize assets and continue to provide essential services within suitable space; supported cultural organizations like Houston’s Menil Collection to unlock development value that sustains operations and expanded programming; structured partnerships like that between the Medical University of South Carolina, the City of Charleston, and development partners that launched construction of the WestEdge mixed-use innovation district; and guided Major League Soccer and other professional sports organizations in planning and public negotiations for siting facilities within the New York region.

Kate previously served as Managing Partner for HR&A’s New York headquarters, overseeing staff and institutionalizing new systems to promote quality and culture during a period of rapid growth. Prior to joining HR&A, Kate managed pre-development for commercial and mixed-use projects as Development Director with Brookfield Properties, and led large-scale planning and development initiatives in Downtown Brooklyn, Coney Island, at Brooklyn Bridge Park, and across New York City as Senior Vice President for Development at the NYC Economic Development Corporation.

Kate is an advisor with the ULI/National League of Cities’ Rose Center for Public Leadership in Land Use, and has served on the faculty of the NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. She is a graduate of Columbia University, and holds a Master’s in Public Policy and Urban Planning from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Board Member, New Yorkers for Parks

Board Member, Brooklyn Greenway Initiative

Member, Public Development and Infrastructure Council, Urban Land Institute

Member, American Planning Association