Chris Velasco
Chris Velasco is President and Executive Director of PLACE® (Projects Linking Art, Community & Environment), a leading nonprofit developer working in the USA and the UK to create alternative-energy live/work communities. PLACE is hired by cities, municipal entities, and other large institutions to create green communities for the public good. Chris and his team of experts help to develop new live/work communities that inspire and lift neighborhoods out of poverty while generating economic returns, renewable energy and green-collar jobs.
PLACE communities - such as the WAV (Working Artists Ventura) in California - provide commercial, office and retail space for creative small businesses, powered entirely by green energy. There is a strong emphasis on green space and even microagriculture.
Each community offers affordable living and working space for artists, filmmakers, musicians, writers, city workers and teachers. Residents share child care, electric cars and a sense of community.
Chris has been actively engaged in the creation of leading-edge communities for over 16 years. He has worked in over 200 cities, and has led the creation of over $425 million of new facilities.
A housing cooperative pioneer, Chris's projects have won numerous awards from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the American Institute of Architects and more. He is a frequent keynote speaker on sustainable communities, the arts, live/work and economic revitalization and is a 2009 Fellow to Stanford's Center for Social Innovation.
Contact Chris if you are looking to support the creation of new live/work communities to transform the prospects of your city.
PLACE
100 Portland Avenue South, Suite 100
Minneapolis, MN 55401
Tel (612) 309-3889