Grain Collective

What Grain Collective does

Grain Collective is a Brooklyn, NY-based professional services firm that integrates urban planning, landscape architecture, and community engagement into a single delivery model for public-sector, institutional, and private developer clients. Its work spans physical design projects (parks, playgrounds, plazas, streetscapes, campus master plans, climate resilience infrastructure), planning processes (neighborhood visioning, brownfield opportunity area studies, open space master plans), and participatory engagement programs (multilingual outreach, focus groups, strategic communications). Notable engagements include the NYCHA Open Space Master Plan covering 133 developments, the Red Hook Integrated Flood Protection System feasibility study, the Brooklyn Public Library multi-branch engagement, and international projects in Mexico and India.

The firm operates on project-based professional services fees negotiated per engagement, typically structured as multi-year contracts and acquired through government RFPs, direct enterprise relationships, and inclusion on interdisciplinary teams led by prime consultants (e.g., Dewberry). Its go-to-market relies heavily on industry awards (nine ASLA and AIANY recognitions between 2022 and 2025), a project portfolio website, and referrals through established relationships with NYC public agencies and community-based organizations. Customers are concentrated in NYC government (NYCHA, NYC DDC, NYC DEP, NYC Parks, NYC EDC, NYC SCA) with secondary segments in private real estate developers (Charney, Tavros, Two Trees), nonprofits (Prospect Park Alliance, Brooklyn Public Library, Green-Wood Cemetery, Fifth Avenue Committee), and educational institutions (Lehigh University, CUNY).

Leadership consists of Founding Principal Runit Chhaya (Landscape Architecture), Principal Sapna Advani (Urban Planning), and Director Kate Belski, supported by a multidisciplinary team of 13-14 staff. The firm is privately held with no disclosed institutional investment, parent entity, or subsidiary relationships.

Name

Grain Collective

Legal name

Grain Collective

Website

https://graincollective.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Grain Collective is a Brooklyn-based landscape architecture, urban planning, and community engagement firm serving NYC public agencies, private developers, nonprofits, and educational institutions through project-based consulting on parks, plazas, housing modernization, and climate resilience infrastructure.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Brooklyn

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Professional Services - Urban Planning: Project-based consulting fees for urban planning services including community visioning, neighborhood planning, land use analysis, and strategic development
2. Professional Services - Landscape Architecture: Fees for landscape architecture services including campus planning, master planning, green infrastructure design, and construction documentation
3. Professional Services - Community Engagement: Consulting fees for community engagement, outreach, strategic communications, and participatory design services

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Grain Collective is a professional services firm that delivers urban planning, landscape architecture, and community engagement services through project-based consulting engagements. Its work spans open space master planning, campus and plaza design, resilient infrastructure planning, streetscape design, and participatory community visioning for government agencies, private developers, nonprofit organizations, and educational institutions, primarily in the New York City metropolitan area with select international projects.

Product overview

Grain Collective is a landscape architecture, urban planning, and community engagement firm that delivers its services through three core offerings: Urban Planning Services, Landscape Architecture Services, and Community Engagement Services. The firm executes these through project-based work spanning parks, playgrounds, plazas, resilient infrastructure, community facilities, and environmental programs across New York City and select international locations. Unlike a software platform with modules, Grain Collective's services are delivered through physical design projects and planning processes, with each project tailored to community-specific needs. Their portfolio includes 30+ named projects including the NYCHA Open Space Master Plan, Post-Sandy Playgrounds, Brooklyn Public Libraries engagement, and various park, plaza, and streetscape designs. The firm operates from Brooklyn, NY serving public agencies, institutions, and private developers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Urban Planning Services Comprehensive urban planning services including community visioning, government collaboration, land use and zoning analysis, neighborhood planning, strategic development, urban revitalization, and equitable development advisory. Delivered for government agencies, private developers, and community organizations.
• Landscape Architecture Services Landscape architecture services encompassing campus planning, climate resilience design, green infrastructure, master planning, site analyses, environmental planning, feasibility studies, construction documentation, and LEED/SITES certification advisory. Delivered for public, institutional, and private clients.
• Community Engagement Services Community engagement services including outreach, focus groups, participatory design, stakeholder mapping, conflict resolution, consensus building, strategic communications, multilingual engagement, and engagement impact evaluation to ensure authentic community representation in design processes.

Quantifiable outcome

• 133 NYCHA developments covered under Open Space Master Plan
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

20 partnerships are on record, tiered key, core and supporting.

• Prospect Park AlliancekeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Prospect Park Alliance for Reimagine Prospect Park: The Vale Restoration project, involving community engagement and urban design for park revitalization
• Hester StreetkeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative partnership with Hester Street on Prospect Park Vale Restoration project for community engagement and urban planning
• Brooklyn Public LibrarykeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Brooklyn Public Library system for transformation of four distinct branches (Adams Street, Sunset Park, Central, New Lots) with deep community engagement
• DewberrycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInterdisciplinary team led by Dewberry for $100M Red Hook Integrated Flood Protection System feasibility study
• NYC DDC - Department of Design and ConstructioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerClient partner for Red Hook Case Study and multiple NYCHA projects
• NYC Mayor's Office of Resiliency (MOR)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner client for Red Hook Integrated Flood Protection System and coastal resiliency planning
• NYC EDC - Economic Development CorporationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner client for Red Hook Case Study and coastal resiliency projects
• Green-Wood CemeterykeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerClient partner for Green-Wood Welcome Center project, focusing on engaging Sunset Park community with cemetery greenspace
• Fifth Avenue CommitteekeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerClient partner for South Brooklyn Revitalization project with community advocates
• Red Hook CoalitionkeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerClient partner for Ready Red Hook: A Community Recovery Plan, collective of community-based organizations for disaster preparedness
• Youth Ministries for Peace and JusticekeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerClient partner for Bronx Visioning: Southern Boulevard project
• Family Services Network of New YorkkeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerClient partner for Bushwick Community Visioning Brownfield Opportunity Area revitalization plan
• NYC Public Housing Preservation TrustcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerClient partner for Nostrand Houses modernization and PACT redevelopment advocacy
• The Architectural League of New YorkkeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerPart of interdisciplinary team UNION for Librariness: Re-envisioning NYC Branch Libraries initiative
• Compost PowersupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration for citywide organic waste reduction program at NYCHA sites, led by Grain with over 3,000 resident interactions
• NYC Department of Environmental ProtectioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerClient partner for green infrastructure stewardship work at NYCHA campuses in Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx
• Alloy DevelopmentkeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerDevelopment team client for Community Visioning for 240 Nassau in DUMBO, Brooklyn
• NYCHA Housing AuthoritycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary government client for multiple projects including Post-Sandy Playgrounds, Open Space Master Plan, Jefferson Houses Cloudburst Resiliency, and environmental activation programs
• NYC School Construction AuthoritycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerClient partner for PS 16 Wakefield Playground, Carol Pino Learning Farm, and Athletic Fields projects
• Two Trees ManagementkeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerClient partner for The Plaza at 300 Ashland, a major public open space in Downtown Brooklyn's Cultural District

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• SWA Group: Large landscape architecture, planning, and urban-design firm with national and international reach. Comparable core discipline (landscape architecture + planning) but operates at materially larger scale and project size.
• OLIN: Philadelphia-based landscape architecture, urban design, and planning firm with comparable public-realm, cultural, and campus expertise. A relevant geographic-adjacent incumbent in the regional landscape-architecture category.
• James Corner Field Operations: Large, internationally recognized landscape architecture and urban-design firm behind major public-space and resiliency projects (e.g., High Line, Freshkills). Much larger scale but the most cited landscape-architecture incumbent in NYC public-realm work.
• Sasaki Associates: Multidisciplinary planning, urban design, and landscape architecture firm with deep higher-education and public-sector practice. Operates as a broader incumbent whose planning-plus-landscape methodology overlaps with Grain's.

Direct peers

• MASS Design Group: Mission-driven architecture and planning firm with a comparable equity-and-justice orientation and emphasis on community engagement in built work. Similar methodology and value proposition though larger and operating nationally.
• Architecture Research Office (ARO): Small NYC architecture and urban-design firm working at the intersection of civic, cultural, and landscape projects. Comparable size, location, and integrated-design approach to Grain.
• nARCHITECTS: NYC architecture and urban-design firm with public-sector and housing-adjacent work. Comparable firm size and design-led approach to civic projects in dense urban contexts.
• WXY Architecture + Urban Design: NYC-based multidisciplinary practice combining architecture, urban planning, and community engagement with a comparable focus on public-sector and equitable-development work. Closest functional analog to Grain's integrated planning-plus-engagement model in the NYC market.
• Agency Landscape + Planning: NYC-based landscape architecture and planning studio working on urban open space, resiliency, and public-realm projects. Closest direct peer on the landscape-architecture side given shared NYC geography and public-sector orientation.
• Marvel Architects: NYC urban design and architecture firm with deep public-sector and open-space portfolio (including waterfront and civic projects). Comparable scale and similar emphasis on community-rooted urban design in the New York region.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/grain-collective

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Grain Collective