Since 2017, Building Better Cities has been at the forefront of finding innovative solutions to urban challenges, from revitalizing brownfield sites to reinvesting in legacy infrastructure. Through this experience, we understand that even the most promising projects can come to a standstill. High interest rates and expensive construction loans have put many developments on hold. Misalignment between political, community, and development partners can lead to lengthy delays. But these challenges also present an opportunity to rethink how we approach urban development, particularly when it comes to innovative financing and project structuring.

Transformational urban developments need the resources and collaboration of many stakeholders to ensure value is created for decades to come. By bringing together technical urban planning and engineering skills, project financing expertise, and practical project execution experience, Building Better Cities works closely with clients and their stakeholders to create opportunities where the sum is greater than its parts. We focus on the building blocks that are critical to moving stagnant ideas and projects towards reality.

LEADERSHIP

Kate Gasparro founded Building Better Cities in 2017 to help urban leaders better understand the challenges facing their constituencies and identify innovative and sustainable infrastructure solutions. As a dynamic urban development professional, Kate has extensive experience in structuring and managing complex real estate and infrastructure projects.

Through her career, Kate has specialized in project structuring between utility and government agencies and private partners. She has created new public-private partnerships for urban development and city technology incubators, executed complex renewable energy credit agreements, and established enabling structures for transitioning infrastructure assets from private developers to public agencies.

Kate's career includes notable leadership roles at Bedrock where she guided strategies for over 200 acres of development in Detroit and Cleveland. She played a key role in the Cuyahoga Riverfront Development, a 35-acre mixed-use project and led the planning and construction of various infrastructure improvements. At FivePoint, Kate oversaw land development of a 272-acre mixed-use, master-planned community at Candlestick Point in San Francisco where she collaborated with city and state agencies to expedite agreements.

Kate's holds a PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering and an MA in International Policy from Stanford University, where she also led research on local infrastructure delivery and public-private partnerships. Her leadership extends to teaching, with guest lecturer roles at the University of Michigan and contributions to international service-learning programs.

Testimonials

“Kate's ability to navigate the complexities of urban development, including multi-modal transportation planning, utility and easement coordination, environmental considerations, and multi-departmental City and Regional authority engagement, is truly remarkable. She possesses a unique blend of creativity and analytical thinking that allows her to identify innovative solutions to challenging problems, pivot nimbly, and consider strategic alternatives with foresight, all resulting in outcomes that exceed expectations.”
- Cullen Meves, Associate Principle, MKSK

“I have enjoyed working with Kate. Her ability to unite different groups of people and lead them to focus and achieve a common goal is uncanny. In high profile projects, it is easy to become frustrated. Kate’s personality is welcoming, calm and respectful which has proved key to meeting milestones on our project.”
- Jason Hebert, VP of Heavy Industrial, Great Lakes Construction Company

“I have had the opportunity to collaborate with Kate for the last 2 ½ years as she skillfully directed a very complex and ambitious land development project in Cleveland. Kate has a remarkable ability to understand, organize and direct all aspects of a project from engineering and master planning to budgeting and entitlements. She has earned the respect of all of the many consultants involved by motivating, respecting and engaging each of the them, thereby achieving maximum productivity while making the experience enjoyable for all. But what impressed me most is her ability to listen carefully, learn from asking the right questions, assimilate the information and make informed decisions.”
- Don Frantz, President, Metro Consulting LLC