Drew Kane

Project website: www.cambridgema.gov/massaveplan

The Mass Ave Planning Study (in-progress) will be a vision plan for what Massachusetts Avenue will look like in 2040 between Alewife Brook Parkway and Cambridge Common. 

This plan is part of the implementation of Envision Cambridge, the City's comprehensive plan. It will study various aspects such as land use, zoning, urban design, housing, climate resiliency, small business support, mobility, and public space along a two-mile stretch of Mass Ave, Cambridge's primary main street.

The plan, and its accompanying zoning, will have to navigate the interests of community members, institutions, local stakeholders and the City of Cambridge. Conversations around density, affordability, resiliency and welcoming spaces find themselves either in productive relationships or at odds despite well-intentioned objectives.

This project is being done in collaboration with Interface Studio, LLC. Image courtesy of Interface Studio.

Project website: www.cambridgema.gov/cambridgestreet

From fall 2021 through fall 2022, the City led Our Cambridge Street, a planning study for Cambridge Street between Inman Square and Lechmere Station. Cambridge Street was identified in Envision Cambridge as an area where sensitive and sustainable growth could provide opportunities for affordable housing; support local retail and service providers; enhance opportunities for walking and bicycling; and create a more environmental productive and welcoming public realm, among other community interests and benefits.

The City worked with the community to craft a shared vision for Cambridge Street based on an inclusive and transparent engagement process.

Less than a year after the project was completed new zoning has been drafted, models for the provision below market rents are being implemented, and a temporary pocket park has been constructed. All recommendations which came from the planning process.

This project was assisted by Interface Studio, LLC.

Read final plan here

Project website: www.cambridgema.gov/centralsquarelots

The Central Square City Lots Study examined the potential of municipally-owned properties to provide much needed affordable housing, civic space and community services. The study analyzed the space needs of City departments; the priorities of the City to accelerate and support the production of affordable housing; and the interests and needs of the surrounding neighborhoods. The ten sites were tested to understand their capacity for different uses and development densities. A thorough community engagement process, complemented the rigor of the needs and development assessment.

Consultant services and graphics by Agency Landscape + Planning

Read final plan here

Eastern Market project website - City of Detroit

The project was a comprehensive framework plan for Detroit's historic Eastern Market, an active food production and distribution district with a historic commercial core and public market. Due to industrial demand and the challenge of expanding in buildings that no longer accommodate contemporary production facilities, Eastern Market must look to grow into adjacent areas with large tracts of vacant land, while preserving the historic integrity of the central market area, accommodating new commercial and residential development.

The framework plan, which included land use, zoning and urban design recommendations, will guide the development of the market’s expansion and the redevelopment of the market core.

Additionally, a stormwater management plan, which looked at district-wide retention strategies in the form of new linear green spaces to reduce surface flooding, complemented the neighborhood framework plan.

Project manager at Utile, Inc. prior to completion. In collaboration with MVVA.

Project Website: Coastal Flood Resilience Design Guidelines

This project was Boston’s first Coastal Resilience Design Guidelines and Zoning Overlay, ensuring buildings are built or adapted to withstand the flooding risks posed by future sea level rise and storm surge. The Guidelines were accompanied by a set of zoning regulations.

Project manager at Utile, Inc. prior to project completion.

Read the guidelines here

The Detroit Planning and Development Department is in the process of a neighborhood plan and form-based zoning code for Brush Park, a historically significant neighborhood north of Downtown.

The plan focuses on unique building and lot typologies for the neighborhood to show future development scenarios and public spaces at a conceptual level.

A form-based zoning code for the neighborhood will be the final outcome, determining the process for future development approvals, as well as setting the standards for the built form of the neighborhood. The aim is to establish rules for building types, heights, setbacks, massing, and street types, among other
regulatory controls. I served as the project manager and planning director. (at Utile)

Project team: Drew Kane, Tim Love, Adam Himes, Dan Bartman

Union Square is poised to see significant growth, partifulcuarly around new transit stations for an extended MBTA line. The City of Somerville underwent an extensive community outreach and planning process to frame the future growth of Union Square from the design of the public realm to development planning for infill sites. (Completed at Utile) 

In collaboration with Principle Group and the City of Somerville

The purpose of this master plan is to evaluate the position of the BMIP within the greater context of the Port of Boston and to determine the relevancy of the industrial, and in particularly the marine industrial economy, within the BMIP. The study focused on how future development and infrastructure can help to support ongoing industrial activity. 

A development typology and land use strategy that can accomodate commercial/light industrial space and traditional industrial space can suit a growing demand for commercial uses and ensure the preservation of an industrial economy in the city. I served as the planning director and project manager. (Completed at Utile)

For generations the Malden River was an industrial waterway walled-off to public use. The Malden River Greenway Plan lays out a vision that will transform the river, creating a world-class park system running through the cities of Everett, Malden, and Medford. It will establish an urban greenspace with thriving biodiversity and promote a healthy lifestyle through active design and open space programming.
The development of the Malden River Greenway will become integral to an open space network that provides a key link in the larger regional greenway systems.

The study area consisted of 4,100 acres of primarily industrial land surrounding the Lower Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. Much of the area is dedicated to active industrial uses including: energy production, manufacturing, distribution, utilities, and transportation.

The plan was focused on job creation, growth and attraction of industry, environmental restoration, infrastructure improvements and an expansion of the City’s open space network. I served as the project manager and urban designer. (Completed at Chan Krieger NBBJ)

Atlanta, GA 2008

The BeltLine consists of a 22 mile abandoned rail corridor around the core of the City of Atlanta. This massive urban redevelopment project already underway will include a continuous network of trails and open space, adjacent in-fill development and future transit.

Sub-area 6 is a two-mile stretch of the BeltLine that connects the Ponce City Market and Piedmont Park. This portion of the trail is already complete. (Completed at EDAW)

Atlanta, GA 2008

The Green Line consists of a 94 acre study area from the Georgia World Congress Center to the Georgia State University MARTA Station. The master plan proposes a linear park system that caps the existing rail lines, as well as a transit station and substantial in-fill development. The linear park will development catalyst for Downtown Atlanta.

Completed at HOK with
Monte Wilson and Chirayu Bhatt

Typi non habent claritatem insitam; est usus legentis in iis qui facit eorum claritatem. Investigationes demonstraverunt lectores legere me lius quod ii legunt saepius. Claritas est etiam processus dynamicus, qui sequitur mutationem consuetudium lectorum.

Mirum est notare quam littera gothica, quam nunc putamus parum claram, anteposuerit litterarum formas humanitatis per seacula quarta decima et quinta decima. Eodem modo typi, qui nunc nobis videntur parum clari, fiant sollemnes in futurum.

The Wooster Square neighborhood, one of New Haven's most historically significant areas, went through a community planning process over a five month period. 

The project focused on a combination of select infill development sites and multiple street designs, in particular a radical redesign of State St, a major commercial thoroughfare in New Haven. This opened up additional parcels for development with proximity to two regional transit stations. The plan was unanimously approved by the City Plan Commission.

The project team consisted of Tim Love, Drew Kane and Sneha Lohotekar.

Hartford, CT 2014

Hartford bears the scars of shortsighted planning during the era of urban renewal. This planning assignment aimed to establish productive uses for land that has stood vacant or underutilized north of downtown, and looked for discrete infill opportunities throughout the study area.

The plan took a pragmatic approach that created a menu of options for development opportunities, understanding that market pressure may prioritize certain parcels and development types. I served as the project manager and lead urban designer.

Completed at Utile with Tim Love and Alex Davis

Springfield, MA 2015

We looked beyond the underutilized  parcels to understand the existing assets in Downtown Springfield. The historic buildings, public squares and a street grid provide the “bones” of good urbanism. The challenge is overcoming years of neglect and disinvestment. I served as the planning/design director and project manager. (Completed at Utile, Inc.)

in collaboration with Tim Love, Sneha Lohotekar