MISSION STATEMENT
Affordable Homes, Net Zero Energy Performance, Safe, Sustainable and Vibrant Communities
Recognizing the urgency of mitigating the twin crises of housing affordability/income inequality AND climate change, and the housing sector’s impact on both, Heleos’ mission is to:
Develop multi-family residences and mixed-use buildings that are affordable to lower and moderate income families and individuals.
Achieve robust sustainability targets. Above all we aim for: Net-zero and near net-zero energy performance; resource-efficiency; smart-growth urban site development; and thoughtful construction approaches that create healthy indoor living environments.
Enhance the safety and livability of the buildings and wider communities in which we work. We utilize management approaches and partnerships with government agencies and community organizations that dramatically reduce crime and enhance opportunity in our neighborhoods.
Generate superior investment returns for our partners, investors, and lenders. We are laser-focused on mitigating project risk and exceeding financial expectations. We believe that thoughtful approaches to sustainability present opportunities for enhancing financial returns.
Our mission is both deeply practical and aspirational. We have seen that affordability, sustainability, and livability are mutually reinforcing, and contribute both to addressing the larger issues of climate change as well as presenting opportunities for community prosperity and superior financial returns.
Principal Bios
Chris VanArsdale
Chris has more than 20 years of real estate development, legal, tax credit finance, and project management experience and has developed and/or owned over 500 multi-family and single-family dwellings in the Washington metro region.
From 2008-2013 he served as Executive Director of the Canal Park Development Association, Inc. (a non-profit, public-private development agency affiliated with WC Smith & Co.). He directed the $27 million development of the Washington Canal Park and surrounding infrastructure and continues to serve on its Board of Directors. The public park is surrounded by mixed-use buildings, contains a LEED Gold certified restaurant, seasonal ice-rink, and is an innovative demonstration model for neighborhood-scale storm water and green building systems.
Chris was a founder and served for eight years as President of GreenHOME, Inc., now known as Greenspace, Inc., a non-profit organization whose mission is to make affordable housing and neighborhoods green. He was an appointee to DC’s Department of Energy and Environment Deep Green for Affordable Housing Technical Advisory Group. He was also a mayoral appointee to the DC Sustainable Energy Utility Advisory Board and has served as an advisor to the DC Property Assessed Clean Energy Program.
He was an attorney in the Washington DC offices of Arent Fox, Greenberg Traurig, and Akin Gump, specializing in environmental law and brownfields redevelopment.
In 2018, the City First Foundation awarded Chris its Community Builder Award for work to create and preserve quality affordable housing.
He has a bachelor's degree from Harvard University, a master's in environmental management and resource economics from Duke University, and a law degree from Cornell Law School. Chris lives in DC with his wife, kids, and spirited rescue dog.
Mark E. James
Mark has 22 years of experience in affordable housing and has remained vigilant in the integration of innovative financing models that benefit underserved communities. His professional background includes the use of multi-layered housing finance, low income housing tax credits, renewable energy incentives and on-site renewables. Mr. James was recognized as a Rockefeller Foundation 2013 Innovator and provides energy consulting services with Enterprise Community Partners and the National Development Council. He also serves a Board Member with the US Green Building Council and the National Center for Healthy Housing.
Prior to launching Urban Green, Mr. James was a Senior Development Officer with Community Preservation and Development Corporation in the District of Columbia. While with CPDC, Mr. James completed the award winning Wheeler Terrace Apartments which was the DC region’s first LEED Gold certified affordable housing community. It is also the first HUD Section 8 housing community in the United States to obtain LEED certification.