PlaceWorks coordinated closely with a steering committee to create the vision, mission, and programming for both the indoor and outdoor components of the innovation center. Experience’s program elements cover a wide range of purposes—educational opportunities, demonstration areas, event/meeting space, a clean-tech incubator/accelerator for emerging companies, co-working space, an information center on Western Riverside jurisdictions and businesses, outdoor gardens/urban agriculture, farm-to-fork café, and more. Visitors will learn about best practices in water and energy use, emerging technology, employment prospects, and more.

PlaceWorks determined annual revenue flow, the likely amount of annual grant funding required to support component programs, the amount of conventional financing the revenue flow could support, and the initial outside capital investment needed to make Experience a reality. We also examined alternate locations and options for a governance structure, which would oversee implementation and operations. We found strong support for Experience, provided the next phase of work results in a financing path with a high level of certainty. WRCOG and the City of Riverside have moved forward with a memorandum of understanding and hired an interim executive director to develop a business plan.