Chris Vrame

A Sacramento entrepreneur who put 100 wines within reach of a single glass, moved softball indoors, and turned a stalled Elk Grove parcel into a community of more than 300 homes.

Chris Vrame is an entrepreneur and real estate developer based in Sacramento, California, whose career has moved across hospitality, sports entertainment and community development. The through-line is not an industry. It is a habit of looking at something people already do and asking why it has to work the way it does.

That habit produced The Tasting Room in Chicago, where guests could sample more than 100 wines by the glass before deciding what to buy. At the time, wine retail asked customers to commit first and learn later. Vrame inverted it, and in doing so made an intimidating category approachable — the same instinct behind the self-pour and by-the-glass formats that spread across hospitality afterwards.

Arena Softball came from the same question applied to sport: a traditional outdoor game reconsidered for an indoor setting, faster and more engaging than the version it was adapted from. Neither venture invented a category from nothing. Both improved how something already worked, which is how Vrame describes innovation when asked about it directly.

His work has since concentrated on real estate development, and specifically on projects that serve the communities around them rather than simply occupying available land. The clearest example is the redevelopment of the Lakeside Business Park and Residential Planned Community in Elk Grove, California. The property had sat stalled for years, held up by zoning and planning issues that defeated earlier attempts to move it forward.

What emerged was a mixed-use community: more than 300 single-family homes alongside offices, restaurants and service businesses, planned so that housing and commerce support one another rather than sitting in separate zones connected by a car trip. Projects of that kind are measured in years, not months, and Vrame is candid that patience did more of the work than any single decision.

He does not run projects through a fixed structure. Some are built with partners who bring specialised knowledge; others he manages directly with consultants, contractors and local professionals. The team is assembled around the project rather than the project being forced through a standing team — a practical response to development work, where the constraints of one site rarely resemble the next.

Ask him how he decides what to take on and the answer is a short list of questions about problems, location, approvals and a realistic path to completion. Ask what has changed over a long career and the answer is the weight he now gives to people and execution over the idea itself. In the interview below he talks about the real estate development process, what makes a mixed-use project work, and why saying no to the wrong project is what creates room for the right one.

Inside a Real Estate Development Career

Can you introduce yourself and describe your role as an entrepreneur and real estate developer?

I’m Chris Vrame, an entrepreneur and real estate developer based in Sacramento, California. My career has included hospitality, sports innovation, and real estate development. I’ve always been interested in projects that solve real problems and create something useful for people. My role changes depending on the project, but it usually involves evaluating opportunities, planning long-term strategies, securing resources, and staying involved until the work is complete. I like being part of projects from the early idea stage through execution.

What is your approach to building and managing projects?

I don’t follow a single business model because every project is different. Sometimes I work with partners who bring specialised knowledge. Other times I manage development directly with consultants, contractors, and local professionals. I’ve learned that the best results usually come from assembling the right people for each project instead of forcing the same structure every time. Good planning and clear communication are more important than having one fixed formula.

From a Self-Pour Wine Bar to Indoor Softball

How do your projects stand out from others in competitive industries?

I look for opportunities where something can be improved instead of copied. At The Tasting Room in Chicago, we created an experience where guests could sample more than 100 wines by the glass before deciding what to buy. That was unusual at the time because it made learning about wine approachable instead of intimidating. With Arena Softball, we looked at a traditional sport and asked how it could become faster and more engaging indoors. In real estate, I focus on creating projects that fit the surrounding community rather than simply building on available land.

What industries have you worked in throughout your career?

My career has covered hospitality, sports entertainment, entrepreneurship, and real estate development. Those industries may seem unrelated, but they all require careful planning, patience, and execution. They also involve understanding what people need and finding practical ways to deliver it. Over time, my work has become increasingly focused on community development because those projects create lasting value.

Mixed-Use Development and Building for a Community

What types of projects have defined your career?

Some of the projects people know best include The Tasting Room, Arena Softball, and the redevelopment of the Lakeside Business Park and Residential Planned Community in Elk Grove, California. The Lakeside project transformed property that had been stalled for years into a mixed-use community with more than 300 single-family homes along with offices, restaurants, and service businesses. I enjoy projects that require long-term thinking and steady problem-solving.

How do you stay informed about changes in your industries?

I pay close attention to what is happening in the communities where projects take place. I also follow planning issues, development trends, and market activity. Every project teaches something new. I spend time talking with professionals, reviewing proposals, and asking questions. I don’t believe you stay ahead by chasing every trend. I think you stay ahead by understanding the fundamentals and paying attention to how people’s needs are changing.

Do you work with repeat partners and collaborators?

Yes. Long-term relationships matter. When people know how you work and trust that you’ll stay committed, it becomes easier to work together again. I think consistency builds confidence. Many successful projects depend on people who understand each other’s strengths and communicate well over a long period.

How do you know when a project has been successful?

Success is more than finishing construction or opening a business. I look at whether the project serves the purpose it was designed for. With the Lakeside development, success meant creating a community where families could live and businesses could operate. With The Tasting Room, success came from seeing customers enjoy discovering new wines in a relaxed environment. If people continue using and benefiting from a project years later, that’s a strong measure of success.

What happens after a project is completed?

Completion is rarely the end of the process. Development projects continue to evolve as communities grow. Businesses also change over time. I stay interested in how projects perform after they are finished because there are always lessons to learn. Looking back at completed work helps improve future decisions.

The Real Estate Development Process: Budgets, Approvals and Deciding to Build

How do you approach budgets and financial decisions?

Every project has different financial requirements, so there isn’t one pricing structure or standard budget that applies to everything I do. The important part is making sure the scope matches the available resources and the long-term objectives. I avoid making promises that cannot realistically be delivered.

How do you decide whether to move forward with a project?

I look at several factors. Does the project solve a real problem? Does the location make sense? Can the necessary approvals be obtained? Is there a realistic path from planning to completion? If the answers are no, then it’s probably not the right opportunity. I’ve learned that saying no to the wrong project creates room for the right one.

What challenges have had the biggest impact on your career?

Development projects require patience. The Lakeside project is a good example. It had been delayed for years because of zoning and planning issues before redevelopment moved forward. Those situations teach you that persistence matters. You cannot control every timeline, but you can control how consistently you work through the process.

How do you encourage innovation?

Innovation usually starts by asking practical questions. At The Tasting Room, we asked how people could explore more wines before making a purchase. With Arena Softball, we asked how baseball could be adapted for an indoor setting. I don’t think innovation always means inventing something completely new. Sometimes it means improving how something already works.

Leadership, Patience and Advice for Entrepreneurs

What values guide the way you work?

Consistency, preparation, and follow-through. Big ideas are exciting, but execution is what determines whether they succeed. I try to stay realistic about timelines and focus on making steady progress instead of looking for shortcuts.

Where would you like your work to be in the next five to ten years?

I hope to continue supporting projects that strengthen communities and create lasting value. I enjoy working on developments that bring together housing, businesses, and services in ways that benefit the people who use them. My goal is to keep applying what I’ve learned to projects that have a positive long-term impact.

How has your leadership approach changed over time?

Early in my career, I focused heavily on the idea itself. Over time, I realised that people and execution are just as important. A good project depends on communication, patience, and having the right team involved. I’ve become more comfortable listening, asking questions, and letting specialists contribute their expertise.

What changes in your fields interest you most today?

I’m interested in how communities continue to evolve and how development can better support the way people live and work. I also like seeing thoughtful innovation in recreation and hospitality because those industries continue finding new ways to improve the customer experience without losing what makes them enjoyable.

What advice would you give to entrepreneurs starting their careers?

Choose projects carefully and be prepared to stay with them. Many opportunities look exciting at the beginning, but the real work starts after the initial enthusiasm fades. Don’t underestimate the value of patience. Some of the most rewarding projects I’ve worked on took years to complete. If you believe in what you’re building and remain committed to doing the work well, you’ll give yourself the best chance of creating something that lasts.

Key Learnings

• Build the team around the project. Development work rarely repeats itself, so a structure that suited the last site is not necessarily the right one for the next.
• Innovation is usually an improvement, not an invention. Sampling wine before buying it, and moving softball indoors, were both existing activities reconsidered rather than new categories.
• Saying no is a development skill. Problem, location, approvals and a realistic path to completion — if any of those fail, the opportunity belongs to someone else.
• Patience is the constraint that cannot be engineered away. A parcel stalled for years by zoning is moved by consistency, not by cleverness.
• Success is measured after the ribbon is cut. A project people are still using and benefiting from years later has succeeded; one that merely opened well may not have.

What Is a Mixed-Use Development?

A mixed-use development combines more than one type of use — typically housing alongside commercial, retail or service space — on a single site under a single plan. It is the opposite of conventional single-use zoning, which separates where people live from where they work, shop and eat, then connects the two with a car trip.

The Lakeside Business Park and Residential Planned Community in Elk Grove is a straightforward illustration: more than 300 single-family homes planned together with offices, restaurants and service businesses, so that the commercial space has residents to serve and the residents have somewhere to go. Neither half works as well without the other, which is why the two are planned at the same time rather than sequentially.

Mixed-use projects are harder to deliver than single-use ones for reasons that have little to do with construction. They usually require rezoning or a planned-development approval, because the existing zoning was written to keep the uses apart. They carry a different financing profile for each component, and lenders often prefer to underwrite residential and commercial separately. And they need a phasing plan, since retail cannot open into an empty subdivision and homes are easier to sell once there is something nearby.

That is why a stalled parcel is often a mixed-use opportunity rather than a warning. Sites sit idle when the permitted use no longer matches what the market or the community actually needs, and reworking the entitlement to allow a combination of uses is frequently what unlocks them. It is also why these projects are measured in years: the developer absorbs the approval timeline before a single foundation is poured.

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