Projects That Make An Impact

Leland was part of a consultant team led by Otak to update the City of Mill Creek’s 2044 Comprehensive Plan.

Leland substantially drafted the Housing and Economic Development Elements of the plan, as well as analyzing housing needs by income band and racially disparate impacts in housing policy following new Washington State regulation.

Leland developed several growth scenario forecasts to help the City understand the level and type of development needed to meet their housing targets citywide, with a focus on the Mill Creek Boulevard Subarea.

Working closely with the Planning Commission, Leland helped the City plan for the type and scale of development in the subarea that would both meet state targets and continue the mixed-use and walkable vision in the Mill Creek Town Center south to the new subarea.

The Comprehensive Plan was adopted by the Mill Creek City Council in December 2024.

La Porte is one of many smaller cities forming the southeastern edge of the massive Houston metroplex. The city has evolved from free-standing small town into a highly interconnected suburb with at least two predominant “identities.”

It manages to be both a vital hub of industry for regional petroleum processing and import/export logistics activity, while at the same time remaining a relatively affordable, family-friendly bayside community, with manageable commutes into the heart of the metro but considerably less of the hustle and bustle of Houston proper.

Leland was brought in as part of a multidisciplinary team led by Freese and Nichols to provide an analytic overview of existing market conditions across all land uses and to provide both citywide and site-specific guidance on how to approach revitalization, infill redevelopment, and economic development in general.

In the course of the quantitative analysis and our stakeholder engagement with property owners, developers, and other business interests, we landed on a set of strategies that emphasized careful revitalization of the small, but increasingly vibrant, Main Street area (in part through introducing more residential uses into the mix) while working to mitigate, without harming, the activities of the city’s heavy industries (largely through compartmentalization).

As the direct, northern neighbor of Seattle, the City of Shoreline has seen rapid growth in recent years spurred by the opening of two light rail stations and an embrace of urban density in the face of rising housing pressures.

Leland was hired as part of a multidisciplinary team led by Otak to update their 20-year Comprehensive Plan. Leland provided leadership in updating the City’s housing and economic development elements, including a citywide land capacity analysis to ensure adequate capacity for both housing and job targets, an assessment of housing needs across all income groups, and collaboratively developed new policy that meets local goals while complying with new Washington State Growth Management Act (GMA) and other recently adopted legislative requirements.

As part of this effort, Leland also facilitated community workshops to establish future economic goals for the city, resulting in a shift in focus towards neighborhood commercial node development and strategies to balance housing demand in Shoreline with new commercial and business growth.

Leland worked as part of a multidisciplinary team led by Cushing Terrell to update the comprehensive plan for the Town of Lochbuie, a small but fast-growing exurb on the northeastern edge of the Denver metropolitan area, straddling southern Weld and northern Adams County.

Lochbuie has historically served a role as an affordable “drive ’til you qualify” bedroom community in service of wide range of regional employment centers but steady growth has triggered the need for more diversified land use planning and desires for a more vibrant town center.

Leland’s analysis and strategic input helped the Town staff understand and negotiate the changing landscape of supply and demand for retail amenities and a broader range of housing offerings, while at the same time preparing for the potential of a game-changing BNSF transloading logistics hub with up to two million square feet of ancillary private sector industrial space.

To plan for this major contingency scenario, Leland studied three other national comparable developments to better understand the likely impacts on Lochbuie’s land use policies and fiscal health.